THOUSAND WAYS
IU Jr Ju . o A.O Jlj
A. JM.UoJi5i_\JA!lJ
LOUISE BENNETT WEAVER
HELEN COWLES LECRON
1917
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Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2011
http://www.archive.org/details/thousandwaystopOOOweav
A THOUSAND WAYS TO
PLEASE A HUSBAND
6 ^
A
THOUSAND WAYS
TO PLEASE A HUSBAND
WITH
BETTINA'S BEST RECIPES
-BY-
LOUISE BENNETT WEAVER
AND
HELEN COWLES LeCRON
The Romance of Cookery
AND HOUSEKEEPING
Decorations by
ELIZABETH COLBOURNE
A. L. Burt Company
Publishers New York
Copyright. 1917
by
Britton Publishing Company, Ine.
All Rights Reserved
Made in U.S. A.
A DEDICATION
To every other little bride
Who has a "Bob" to please,
And says she's tried and tried and tried
To cook with skill and ease,
And cant! — we offer here as guide
Bettinas Recipes!
To her whose "Bob" is prone to wear
JL sad ana Jiungry toon,
Because the maid he thought so fair
Is — well — she just cant cook!
To her we say : do not despair;
Just try Bettinds Book!
JUNE.
No, you cannot live on kisses,
Though the honeymoon is sweet,
Harken, brides, a true word this is,-
Even lovers have to eat.
CHAPTER I
HOME AT LAST
**TJOME at last!" sighed
Al Bettina happily as the
hot and dusty travelers left the
train.
"Why that contented sigh?"
asked Bob. "Because our wed-
ding trip is over? Well, any-
how, Bettina, it's after five.
Shall we have dinner at the
hotel?"
"Hotel? Why, Bob ! with our
house and our dishes and our silver just waiting for us? I'm
ashamed of you ! We'll take the first car for home — a street-
car, not a taxi ! Our extravagant days are over, and the time
has come to show you that Bettina knows how to keep house.
You think that you love me now, Bobby, but just wait till you
sit down to a real strawberry shortcake made by a real cook
in a real home !"
Half an hour later Bob was unlocking the door of the new
brown bungalow. "Isn't it a dear?" cried Bettina proudly.
"When we've had time to give it grass and shrubs and flowers
and a vegetable garden, no place in town will equal it! And
as for porch furniture, how I'd like to get at Mother's attic and
transform some of her discarded things!"
"Just now I'd rather get at some of Mother's cooking!"
grinned Bob.
8 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
"Oh, dear, I forgot ! I'll have supper ready in ten minutes.
Do you remember my emergency shelf? Why, Bob — Bob,
they must have known we were coming! Here's ice — and
milk — and cream — and butter — and bread — and rolls, and even
a grape fruit ! They knew, and didn't meet the train because
they thought we would prefer to have our first meal alone!
Wasn't that dear of them? And this will save you a trip to
the corner grocery !"
Bettina fastened a trim percale bungalow apron over her
traveling suit, and swiftly and surely assembled the little meal.
"I like that apron," said Bob. "It reminds me of the rainy
day when we fixed the emergency shelf. That was fun."
"Yes, and work too," said Bettina, "but I'm glad we did it.
Do you remember how much I saved by getting things in dozen
and half dozen lots? And Mother showed me how much
better it was to buy the larger sizes in bottled things, because
in buying the smaller bottles you spend most of your money
for the glass. Now that you have to pay my bills, Bob, you'll
be glad that I know those things !"
"I think you know a great deal," said Bob admiringly. "Lots
of girls can cook, but mighty few know how to be economical
at the same time ! It's great to be your "
"Dinner is served," Bettina interrupted. "It's a 'pick-up
meal,' but I'm hungry, aren't you? And after this, sir, no
more canned things !"
And Bob sat down to:
Creamed Tnna on Toast Strips
Canned Peas with Butter Sauce
Rolls Butter
Strawberry Preserves
Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Creamed Tuna on Toast Strips (Two portions)
i T-butter }/2 slice pimento
i T-flour I C-milk
% t-salt 3 slices of bread
J/2 C-tuna
With Bettinas Best Recipes 9
Melt the butter, add the flour, salt and pimento. Mix well.
Gradually pour in the milk. Allow the mixture to boil one
minute. Stir constantly. Add the fish, cook one minute and
pour over toasted strips of bread.
Hot Chocolate (Three cups)
I square of chocolate 2 C-milk
3 T-sugar % t-vanilla
2/3 C-water 3 marshmallows
Cook chocolate, sugar and water until a thin custard is
formed. Add milk gradually and bring to a boil. Whip with
an Qgg beater, as this breaks up the albumin found in choco-
late, and prevents the coating from forming over the top. Add
vanilla and marshmallows. Allow to stand a moment and pour
into the cups.
Strawberry Preserves (Six one-half pt. glasses)
4 lbs. berries 3lbs. sugar
3 C-water
Pick over, wash and hull the berries. Make a syrup by
boiling the sugar and water fifteen minutes. Fill sterilized jars
with the berries. Cover with syrup and let stand fifteen
minutes to settle. Add more berries. Adjust rubbers and
covers. Place on a folded cloth in a kettle of cold water. Heat
water to boiling point and cook slowly one hour. Screw on
covers securely.
On Bettina's Emergency Shelf
6 cans pimentos (small size) 6 cans tomatoes
6 cans tuna (small size) 6 pt. jars pickles
6 cans salmon (small size) 6 pt. jars olives
6 jars dried beef 6 small cans condensed mite
12 cans corn 6 boxes sweet wafers
12 cans peas 1 pound box salted codfish
6 cans string beans 3 pkg. marshmallows
6 cans lima beans 3 cans mushrooms
6 cans devilled ham (small size) 2 pkg. macaroni
CHAPTER II
BETTINA'S FIRST REAL DINNER
*f QAY, isn't it great to be alive.!" exclaimed Bob, as he
**-* looked across the rose-decked table at the flushed but
happy Bettina. "And a beefsteak dinner, too !"
"Steak is expensive, dear, and you'll not get it often, but as
this is our first real dinner in our own home, I had to cele-
brate. I bought enough for two meals, because buying steak
for one meal for two people is beyond any modest purse ! So
you'll meet that steak again tomorrow, but I don't believe that
you'll bow in recognition !"
"So you marketed today, did you?"
"Indeed I did ! I bought a big basket, and went at it like
a seasoned housekeeper. I had all the staples to get, you
know, and lots of other things. After dinner I'll show you
the labelled glass jars on my shelves ; it was such fun putting
things away ! June is a wonderful month for housekeepers.
I've planned the meals for days ahead, because I know that's
best. Then I'll go to the market several times a week, and
if I plan properly I won't have to order by telephone. It
seems so extravagant to buy in that way unless you know
exactly what you are getting. I like to plan for left-overs,
too. For instance, the peas in this salad were left from
yesterday's dinner, and the pimento is from that can I opened.
Then, too, I cooked tomorrow's potatoes with these to save
gas and bother. You'll have them served in a different way,
of course. And Oh, yes, Bob," Bettina chattered on, "I
saw Ruth down town, and have asked all five of my brides-
10
With Bettinas Best Recipes H
maids to luncheon day after tomorrow. Won't that be fun?
But I promise you that the neglected groom shall have every
one of the good things when he comes home at night I"
"It makes me feel happy, I can tell you, to have a home like
this. It's pleasant to be by ourselves, but at the same time
I can't help wishing that some of the bachelors I know could
sec iv all and taste your cooking r-
"Well, Bob, I want you to feel free to have a guest at any
time. If my dinners are good enough for you, I'm sure they're
good enough for any guest whom you may bring. And it
isn't very hard to make a meal for three out of a meal for two.
Now, Bobby, if you're ready, will you please get the dessert?"
"What ? Strawberry shortcake ? Well, this is living ! I tell
you what, Bettina, I call this a regular man-size meal !"
It consisted of :
Pan-Broiled Steak New Potatoes in Cream
Baking-Powder Biscuits Gutter
.Khubarb Sauce Pea and Celery Salad
Strawberry Short-cake Cream
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Pan-Broiled Steak (Two portions)
I lb. steak % t-pepper
i T-butter 2 T-hot water
1 t-salt 1 t-parsley chopped
Wipe the meat carefully with a wet cloth. Remove super-
fluous fat and any gristle. Cut the edges to prevent them
from curling up. When the broiling oven is very hot, place
the meat, without any fat, upon a hot flat pan, directly under
the blaze. Brown both sides very quickly. Turn often. Re-
duce heat and continue cooking about seven minutes, or longer
if desired. Place on a warm platter; season with salt, pepper
and bits of butter. Set in the oven a moment to melt the
butter. If salt is added while cooking, the juices will be drawn
out. A gravy may be made by adding hot water, butter, salt,
pepper and parsley to the pan. Pour the gravy over the
steak.
12 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
New Potatoes in Cream (Two portions)
4 new potatoes i qt. water
i t-salt
Scrape four medium sized new potatoes. Cook in boiling
water (salted) until tender when pierced with a fork. Drain
off the water, and shake the kettle over the fire gently, to allow
the steam to escape and make the potatoes mealy. Make the
following white sauce and pour over the potatoes.
White Sauce for New Potatoes (Two portions)
2 T-butter i c-milk
2 T-flour Y? t-salt
% t-paprika
Melt the butter, add the flour, salt and paprika. Thoroughly
mix, slowly add milk, stirring constantly. Allow sauce to
cook two minutes.
Strawberry Shortcake (Two portions)
2 T-lard 1/3 t-salt
1 T-butter 4 t-baking powder
2 c-sifted flour 1 qt. strawberries
% C-milk 2/3 C-sugar
Cut the fat into the flour, salt and baking powder until the
consistency of cornmeal. Gradually add the milk, using a
knife to mix. Do not handle any more than absolutely neces-
sary. Toss the dough upon a floured board or a piece of clean
brown paper. Pat into the desired shape, and place in a pan.
Bake in a hot oven for 12 to 15 minutes. Split, spread with
tmtter, and place strawberries, crushed and sweetened, between
and on top. Serve with cream.
CHAPTER III
BETTINA'S FIRST GUEST
*<T TELLO! Yes, this is Bettina! Why, Bob, of course!
A A Is he a real woman-hater? No, I've never met any,
but I'll just invite Alice, too, and tomorrow you won't be
calling him that. Six-thirty ? Yes, I'll be ready for you both ;
I'm so glad you asked him. He'll be our first guest ! Good-
bye !"
Bettina left the telephone with more misgivings than her
tone had indicated. She couldn't disappoint Bob, and she
liked unexpected company, but the dinner which she had
planned was prepared largely from the recipes filed as "left-
overs" in her box of indexed cards.
"Well, Bob will like it, anyhow," she declared confidently,
"and if Alice can come, we'll have enough scintillating table-
talk to make up for disappointments."
Alice accepted with delight, promising to wear "a dream of
a gown that just came home," and confessing to a sentimental
feeling at the thought of dining with such a new bride and
groom.
"Let's see," said Bettina in her spick and span little kitchen,
"there is meat enough, but I must hard-boil some eggs to help
out these potatoes. 'Potatoes Anna' will be delicious. Good-
ness, what would my home economics teacher have said if she
had heard me say 'hard-boil'? They mustn't really be boiled
at all, just 'hard-cooked' in water kept at the boiling point.
There will be enough baked green peppers for four, and
enough of the pudding, and if I add some very good coffee.,
14 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
I don't believe that Bob's Mr. Harrison will feel that women
are such nuisances after all! It isn't an elaborate meal, but
it's wholesome, and at any rate, our gas bill will be a little
smaller because everything goes into the oven."
When Alice arrived, Bettina was putting the finishing
touches on her table. "Alice, you look stunning!"
"And you look lovely, which is better! And the table is
charming! Those red clover blossoms in that brown basket
make a perfect center-piece ! How did you think of it ?"
"Mother Necessity reminded me, my dear! My next door
neighbor has roses, but I covet some for my luncheon tomor-
row, and did not like to ask for any today. So I had to use
these red clover blooms from our own back yard. They are
simple, like the dinner."
"Don't you envy me, Harrison?" asked Bob at the table.
"This is my third day of real home cooking! You were unex-
pected company, too !"
The dinner consisted of :
Boubons with Tomato Sauce
Potatoes Anna Baked Green Peppers Stuffed
Bread Butter
Cottage Pudding Lemon Sauce
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Boubons (Four portions)
1 C-cooked meat ground fine (one or more
kinds may be used)
2 T-fresh bread crumbs
% t-pepper
y2 C-milk
I T-green pepper or pimento chopped fine
% t-celery salt
I egg
y2 t-salt
i t-butter (melted)
Beat the egg, add milk, seasonings, melted butter, bread-
crumbs and meat. Mix thoroughly. Fill buttered cups three-
fourths full of mixture. Place in a pan of boiling water, and
With Bettinas Best Recipes 15
bake in a moderate oven fifteen minutes. The mixture is done
as soon as it resists pressure in the center. Allow them to
remain in the pans a few minutes, then remove carefully upon
a serving plate. They may be made in a large mould or indi-
vidual ones. Serve with the following sauce.
Tomato Sauce (Four portions)
i C-tomatoes l/2 t-sugar
i slice onion Y2 C-water
4 bay leaves 2 T-butter
4 cloves 2 T-flour
Y* t-salt
Simmer the tomatoes, onion, bay leaves, cloves, sugar and
water for fifteen minutes, rub through the strainer. Melt but-
ter, add flour and salt, add strained tomato juice and pulp.
Cook until the desired consistency.
Potatoes Anna (Four portions)
ll/2 C-cooked diced potatoes y2 t-celery salt
2 hard-cooked eggs Ya t-onion salt
1 C-thin white sauce
Place alternate layers of diced cooked potatoes and sliced
hard-cooked eggs in a baking dish. Season. Pour a thin white
sauce over all of this. Place in a moderate oven fifteen min-
utes.
Stuffed Green Peppers (Four portions)
4 green peppers 4 C-boiling water
Remove the stems of the peppers and take out all the con-
tents. Remove small slices from the blossom end so they will
stand. Cover peppers with boiling water, allow to stand five
minutes and drain. Fill with any desired mixture. Bake in a
moderate oven twenty-five minutes, basting frequently with
hot water.
Filling for Peppers (Four portions)
1 C-fresh bread crumbs Y2 t-salt
1 t-chopped onion or Ya T-onion salt 1 T-melted butter
1/3 C-chopped ham, or 1 T-salt pork % t-paprika
2 T-water
16 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Mix thoroughly and fill the pepper cases.
Baked Cottage Pudding (Four portions)
i C-flour 1/3 C-sugar
1 2/3 t-baking powder 2 T-melted butter
% t-salt y2 C-milk
1 well-beaten egg % t-vanilla or lemon extract
Mix dry ingredients, add egg and milk. Beat well and add
melted butter and extract. Bake twenty-five minutes in a well
buttered mould. Serve hot with the following sauce :
Lemon Sauce (Four portions)
y2 C-sugar 1 t-butter
lYz 1 -flour 1 t-lemon extract or y2 t-lemon juice
1 C-hot water y2 t-salt
Mix sugar, flour and salt. Slowly add the hot water. Cook
until thick, stirring constantly. Add flavoring and butter.
CHAPTER IV
BETTINA GIVES A LUNCHEON
**r\ YOU darling Bcttina! Did you do it all yourself?"
^-^ Mary exclaimed impulsively, as the girls admired the
dainty first course which their hostess set before them.
"Everything is pink and white, like the wedding !"
"Yes," said Bettina, "and those maline bows on the basket
of roses actually attended my wedding. And after this is over,
you may see that maline again. I expect to press it out and
put it away for other pink luncheons in other Junes ! Today,
since my guests were to be just my bridesmaids, I thought that
a pink luncheon would be the most appropriate kind."
"Isn't it fine to be in Bettina's own house? I can't realize
it!" said Ellen. "And the idea of daring to cook ft whole
luncheon and serve it in courses all by herself ! Why, Bettina,
how did you know what to have ?"
"Well," said Bettina, "I went to the market and saw all the
inexpensive things that one can buy in June! (They had to
be inexpensive ! Why, if I were to tell you just what this
luncheon cost, you'd laugh. But I want you to like it all before
I give that secret away.) And then in planning my menu, I
thought of pinky things that went together. That was all, you
see.
"But didn't it take hours and hours to prepare everything ?"
"Why, no. I thought it all out first, and wrote it down, and
did most of it yesterday. I've found that five minutes of
planning is worth five hours of unplanned work. I haven't
hurried, and as Bob will have this same meal as his dinner
tonight, I didn't have to think of him except to plan for more.
17
18 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
You see, I estimated each portion as carefully as I could, for it
isn't necessary to have a lot of left-over things. Tonight I'll
wear this same pink gown at dinner so that Bob will get every
bit that he can of my first luncheon except the silly girls who
flattered the cook."
"Bettina, there are so many things I'd like to ask you !" said
Ruth, who was a little conscious of the shining ring on her left
hand. "Tell me, for instance, how you shaped these cunning
timbales. With your hands ?"
"With a conical ice-cream mould. It is so easy that way."
"And this salad ! Fred is so fond of salad, but I don't know
a thing about making it."
"Well, I washed the lettuce thoroughly, and when it was
very wet I put it on the ice in a cloth. I poured boiling water
over these tomatoes to make the skins peel off easily. And,
oh, yes, these cucumbers are crisp because I kept the slices in
ice water for awhile before I served them. Good salad is
always very cold ; the ingredients ought to be chilled before
they are mixed."
"These dear little cakes, Bettina! How could you make
them in such cunning shapes ?"
"With a fancy cutter. And I dipped it in warm water each
time before I used it, so that it would cut evenly. I'd love to
show you girls all that I know about cooking. Do learn it now
while you're at home ; it will save much labor and even tears !
Why, Bob said "
"I knew that was coming!" laughed Alice. "Girls, in self-
defense, let's keep the conversation strictly on Betty's menu,
and away from Betty's husband !"
And so they discussed :
Strawberries au Naturel
Kornlet Soup Whipped Cream
Croutons
Salmon Timbales with Egg Sauce
Buttered Beets Potato Croquettes
Pinwheel Biscuit Butter Balls
Vegetable Salad Salad Dressing
Wafers
Fancy Cakes Coffee
With Bettinas Best Recipes 19
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Strawberries au Naturel (Ten portions)
2 quarts strawberries I C-powdered sugar
Pick over selected berries, place in a colander and wash,
draining carefully. Press powdered sugar into cordial glasses
to shape into a small mould. Remove from glasses onto cen-
ters of paper doilies placed on fruit plates. Attractively
arrange ten berries around each mound. Berries should be
kept cool and not hulled. Natural leaves may be used very
effectively on the doily.
Croutons for the Soup (Ten portions)
4 slices bread 2 T-butter (melted)
y2 t-salt
Cut stale bread in one-third inch cubes. Brown in the oven.
Add melted butter and salt. Mix and reheat the croutons.
Salmon Timbales (Eight portions)
1 C-salmon flaked 2/3 C-milk
J4 C-bread crumbs 1 T-lemon juice
1 slightly beaten egg % t-paprika
yi t-salt
Mix ingredients in order named. Fill small buttered moulds
or cups one-half full. Set in a pan of hot water, and bake
twenty minutes in a moderate oven. Serve with following
sauce :
Egg Sauce (Eight portions)
3 T-butter l/2 t-salt
3 T-flour J4 t-pepper
iH C-milk 1 egg yolk
Melt the butter, stir flour in well, and slowly add the milk.
Let it boil about two minutes, stirring constantly. Season, add
yolk of egg, and mix well. (The oil from the salmon may be
substituted for melted butter as far as it will go.)
White Cakes (Sixteen cakes)
1/3 C-butter 3 t-baking powder
1 C-sugar Yi t-lemon extract
2/3 C-milk y2 t-vanilla
2 C-sifted flour 3 egg whites
20 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Cream butter, add sugar, and continue creaming. Alter-
nately add the dry ingredients mixed and sifted. Add the
milk. Beat well, add flavoring. Fold in the stiffly beaten
whites. Spread evenly, two-thirds of an inch thick, on waxed
paper, placed in a pan. Bake twenty minutes in moderate
oven. Remove from oven, allow cake to remain in pan five
minutes. Carefully remove and cool. Cut with fancy cutters.
White Mountain Cream Icing for Cakes
I C-granulated sugar % C-water
% t-cream tartar I egg white
x/2 t-vanilla
Boil the sugar, water and cream of tartar together without
stirring. Remove from fire as soon as the syrup hairs when
dropped from a spoon. Pour very slowly onto the stiffly beaten
egg white. Beat vigorously with sweeping strokes until cool.
If icing gets too hard to spread, add a little warm water and
keep beating. Add extract and spread on cakes. Decorate
with tiny pink candies.
CHAPTER V
BOB HELPS TO GET DINNER
f f Z^1 UESS who!" said a voice behind Bettina, as two hands
^-* blinded her eyes.
"Why, Bob, dear ! Good for you ! How did you get home
so early?"
"I caught a ride with Dixon in his new car. And I thought
you might need me to help get dinner ; it's nice to be needed !
But here I've been picturing you toiling over a hot stove, and,
instead, I nna you on tne porch with a magazine, as cool as a
cucumber !"
"The day of toiling over a hot stove in summer is over. At
least for anyone with sense ! But I'm glad you did come home
early, and you can help with dinner. Will you make the
French dressing for the salad? See, I'll measure it out, and
you can stir it this way with a fork until it's well mixed and a
little thick."
"I know a much better way than that. Just watch your
Uncle Bob; see? I'll put it in this little Mason jar and shake
it. It's a lot easier and — there you are! We'll use what we
need tonight, put the jar away in the ice-box, and the next
time we can give it another good shaking before we use it."
"Why, Bob, what an ingenious boy you are ! I never would
have thought of that !"
"You married a man with brains, Betty dear! What is
there besides the salad ?"
"Halibut steak. It's Friday, you know, and there is such
good inexpensive fish on the market. A pound is plenty for
21
22 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
us. The potatoes are ready for the white sauce, the beans
are in the fireless cooker, and for dessert there is fresh pine-
apple sliced. The pineapple is all ready. Will you get it,
dear? In the ice-box in a covered jar."
"Why didn't you slice it into the serving dish?"
"Because it had to be covered tight. Pineapple has a pene-
trating odor, and milk and butter absorb it in no time."
"What else shall I do, Madam Bettina ?"
"Well, you may fix the lemon for the fish. No, not sliced;
a slice is too hard to handle. Just cut it in halves and then
once the other way, in quarters ; see ? You may also cut up
a little of that parsley for the creamed new potatoes. That
reminds me that I am going to have parsley growing in a
kitchen window box some day. Now you can take the beans
out of the cooker, and I'll put butter sauce on them. No, it
isn't really a sauce, — just melted butter with salt and pepper.
There, Bobby dear ! Dinner is served, and you helped ! How
do you like the coreopsis on the table ?"
"You always manage to have flowers of some kind, don't
you, Betty ? I'm growing so accustomed to that little habit of
yours that I suppose I wouldn't have any appetite if I had to
eat on an ordinary undecorated table !"
"Don't you make fun of me, old fellow! You'd have an
appetite no matter when, how or what you had to eat! But
things are good tonight, aren't they?"
Bob had helped to prepare:
Halibut Steak New Potatoes in Cream
String Beans Butter Sauce
Bread Butter
Tomato, Cucumber and Pimento Salad French Dressing
Sliced Fresh Pineapple
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Halibut Steak (Two portions)
2/3 lb. Halibut Steak */2 t-salt
3 T-flour % t-paprika
Wash one pound of Halibut steak and wipe dry. Cut in
two pieces. Roll in flour, and cook ten minutes in a frying pan
With Bettinas Best Recipes 23
in hot fat. Brown on one side, and then on the other. Season
with salt and paprika. Serve very hot.
String Beans with Butter Sauce (Two portions)
ij4 C-string beans i T-butter
2 C-water I t-salt
J4 t-paprika
Remove ends and strings from green beans. Add water and
cook over a moderate fire for twenty-five minutes. Drain off
the water, add butter, salt and paprika. Reheat and serve.
Tomato, Cucumber and Pimento Salad (Two portions)
i tomato sliced I t-salt
% C-sliced cucumbers % t-paprika
I T-pimento cut fine 2 pieces lettuce
Arrange lettuce on serving dishes. Place portions of tomato,
cucumber and pimento on the lettuce. Sprinkle with salt and
paprika. Serve with French dressing.
French Dressing (Two portions)
4 T-olive oil l/2 t-salt
2 T-vinegar % t-paprika
Mix ingredients, which have been thoroughly chilled, and
beat until the mixture thickens. Pour over the vegetables.
Pineapple Sliced (Two portions)
i pineapple Yz C-sugar
Remove the skin and eyes from the pineapple. Cut cross-
wise in half-inch slices, and the slices in cubes, at the same time
discarding the core. Sprinkle with sugar and stand in a cold
place for an hour before serving.
CHAPTER VI
COUSIN MATILDA CALLS
t*TTELLO, is this you, Bettina? This is Mother! I'll
■*■ ■*■ have to speak in a low voice. Who do you think is
here ? No, — Cousin Matilda ! Just between trains, but she
says she must see how you are 'situated' ! Clementine has
such a wonderful establishment now, you know! No, of
course not, but I want her to see how happy you are. She
seems to have the idea that an 'establishment' is necessary!
Just to see the house, you know ! I know the porch isn't
ready, but don't worry ! About three, then. Good-by !"
That afternoon Bettina looked anxiously through the living
room window across the bare little front yard. If only critical
Cousin Matilda had waited a few months before coming! But
then, the only thing to do was to be as cheerful about it as
possible
"So this is little Bettina!" said a majestic voice at the door.
"And how is love in a cottage? How charmingly simple
everything is !"
"They planned it all just as they wanted it," explained
Bettina's mother proudly. "On a small scale, of course, but
perhaps some day "
"But I couldn't ever be happier than I am right now, Cousin
Matilda. What do you think of our big living room ? Browns
and tans seemed best and safest in a little house like this, and
I knew I shouldn't tire of them as of any other color ! I do
so dislike going into a bungalow with one little room in blue,
another in pink, and so on. The walls are all alike, even in
24
With Bettinas Best Recipes 25
the bedrooms. And the curtains are just simple cotton voiles,
ecru in the living and dining rooms, and white in the bed-
rooms. No side curtains to catch the dust and keep out the
air. But I beg your pardon for seeming too complacent; I
love it all so that I just can't help boasting."
"What is this, my dear? A wedding gift?"
"Yes, isn't it lovely? It is a sampler in cross-stitch that
Bob's great-great-grandmother made ! His Aunt Margaret had
it put under the glass cover of this tea cart, and gave it to us
for a wedding present. See, the cart is brown willow, and I
think it looks well with our furniture, don't you? This is to
be a living porch, but we haven't furnished it yet except for
this green matting rug. And Bob brought that hanging basket
home from the florist's the other day. . . . Oh, yes, this is my
Japanese garden ! Bob laughs at me, I have so much fun
watching it."
"What a lovely table decoration those red cherries make in
your dining room, my dear! Like a picture, in that piece of
dull green pottery !"
"Yes, Bob says I decorate the table differently for every
meal ! We use this breakfast alcove for breakfast, Sunday
evening tea, or any informal meal when we are alone. You
see how convenient it is ! I do want to put a round serving
table with leaves on our living porch. Then we can eat there
on warm evenings in summer."
"Bettina is very accomplished in economy," said her mother.
"You must let her tell you some of her methods."
"Clementine would be interested, I'm sure," said Cousin
Matilda in her languid way. "Is this your guest room?"
"Yes, and Bob and I are proud of that. We white enameled
the furniture ourselves ! It is some that we found in a second-
hand store, and it was certainly a bargain, though it didri\
look it at the time. I sewed the rags together for these blue
and white rugs. Bob made that little open desk out of a small
table that we found somewhere. Now that it is white, too, I
think it is cunning. And, Cousin Matilda, I give you three
guesses as to the place in which I keep my sewing machine !"
"Why, I haven't seen it yet. In the kitchen ?"
26 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
"Goodness, no ! Well, I'll tell you ! This looks like a dress-
ing table, but is merely a shelf with a mirror above it. The
shelf has a cretonne cover and 'petticoat' that reaches the floor.
And underneath it — behold the sewing machine ! Bob made
the shelf high enough and wide enough to let the sewing
machine slip under it ! But, Cousin Matilda, you must be tired
of Bettina's economies ! Please sit down with mother in the
living room and I will get the 'party.' "
And Bettina wheeled her tea cart into the kitchen, returning
with luncheon napkins, plates, glasses, a pitcher of iced fruit
juice, a plate of little chocolate cakes, and several sprays of
wild roses.
"What delicious little cakes, Bettina ! At least you can't be
called economical when you serve such rich and dainty food as
this!"
"I must plead guilty still, Cousin Matilda. I made these
little cakes partly from dry bread crumbs. The fruit juice is
mostly from the pineapple which Bob had for dessert last night.
I cooked the core with about two cups of water and added it
to the lemonade."
"Bettina, Bettina! How did you learn these things? Rob-
ert is certainly a lucky man, and I'm sure that some day he
will be a wealthy one! You must give me the recipes you
used !"
And Bettina wrote them down as follows :
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Little Chocolate Cakes (Twelve cakes)
2 eggs I C-dry bread crumbo
% C-butter 3 T-flour
y2 C-sugar 1 t-vanilla
3 squares chocolate
Cream the butter, add sugar, and cream the mixture. Add
the beaten eggs and stir well. Add melted chocolate, bread
crumbs, flour and flavoring. Spread the mixture very thinly
on a buttered pan, and bake twenty minutes in a slow oven.
Shape with a tiny biscuit cutter, and put together in pairs with
With Bettina's Best Recipes 27
mountain cream icing between and on top. (Icing recipe al-
ready given.)
Fruit Juice (Eight glasses)
I C-sugar 2 C-water
il/t C-lemon juice
Boil sugar and water ten minutes without stirring, add lemon
juice, and any other fruit juices. Cool and bottle. Keep on
ice and dilute with ice water when desired for use. Serve
mint leaves with the fruit juice.
JULY.
The market is full of delights in July:
Fresh vegetables, berries, red cherries for pie!
Good housewives and telephones seldom agree,
So market yourself! You can buy as you see!
CHAPTER VII
A NEW-FASHIONED SUNDAY DINNER
** 'VT" OU W*M g° t0 church with
«*• us this morning, Bet-
tina?" asked Bob's cousin Henry,
known also as the Rev. Henry
Clinkersmith, as he came into
Bettina's immaculate kitchen one
Sunday.
"Yes, indeed, I will go !" Bet-
tina answered him. "Is it nearly
ten o'clock ? Oh, yes, nine forty-
five. I'll go at once and get
ready."
Cousin Henry had arrived late Saturday evening. He was
rilling the pulpit of a friend that Sunday morning.
Bettina finished arranging the low bowl of pansies which
was to be her table decoration. "For the dinner table," she
explained to Cousin Henry.
"And Bob," she said as they walked to church (Cousin
Henry was ahead with an old friend), "I do believe he was
worried about dinner. There wasn't a trace of any prepara-
tion to be seen! You know I made the cake and the salad
dressing yesterday, and the lettuce was on the ice. The sher-
bet was on the porch (I bought it, you know), and the lamb
and potatoes were in the cooker."
"Well, let him worry ! How long will it take to get it ready
after we get home?"
29
30 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
"About fifteen minutes. The table is set, but I'll have to
warm the plates and take things up. Then there's the gravy
to make, of course."
"All I can say is this," said Cousin Henry at dinner, as he
passed his plate for a second helping, "since you've explained
the mysteries of the fireless cooker, I realize how it would
have helped those cold Sunday dinners of the past generation.
The women could have obeyed the fourth commandment and
given their families a good Sunday dinner, too !"
That day they had :
Leg of Lamb with Potatoes Lamb Gravy
Head Lettuce Thousand Island Dressing
Mint Sauce
Bread Butter
Pineapple Sherbet Bettina's Loaf Cake
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Roast Leg of Lamb with Potatoes (Ten portions)
A 4-lb. leg of lamb % t-paprika
6 large potatoes i T-salt
2 T-lard
Wash the lamb with a damp cloth. Wipe dry and sprinkle
with two teaspoons of salt. Place the lard in a frying-pan.
When hot, add the lamb, and brown well on all sides. Place
the meat in the fireless utensil. Sprinkle the potatoes with
salt and paprika. Arrange these about the leg of lamb. Place
the disks, heated for baking, over and under the baking pan.
Cook three hours in the fireless. Use the drippings for gravy.
Lamb Gravy (Four portions)
4 T-drippings 2 T-flour
2/3 C-water ]/2 t-salt
Place half of the drippings in a sauce-pan. Add the flour,
and allow it to brown. Add slowly the water, salt and the
rest of the drippings (two tablespoonsful). Boil one minute.
With Bettinas Best Recipes 31
Mint Sauce (Four portions)
% C-mint leaves 4 T-vinegar
x/2 C-boiling water Y% t-paprika
2 T-sugar % t-salt
Chop the mint leaves very fine. Add the boiling water and
sugar. Cover closely and let stand one-half hour. Add the
vinegar, pepper and salt.
Loaf Cake (Bettina's Nut Special) (Twelve pieces)
1/3 C-butter 3 t-baking powder
1 C-"C" sugar % C-nut-meats, cut fine
1 egg lA t-salt
il/2 C-flour 2/3 C-milk
l/2 t-cinnamon 1 t-vanilla
l/2 t-lemon extract
Cream the butter, add the sugar and the egg. Mix well.
Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nut-meats, salt, milk,
vanilla and lemon extract. Beat two minutes. Pour into a
loaf-cake pan prepared with waxed paper. Bake thirty min-
utes in a moderate oven.
CHAPTER VIII
CELEBRATING THE FOURTH
* **VTOW, boys, run and play while Alice and I set the picnic
-L ^ table !" said Bettina to Bob and Mr. Harrison. "See
if the fish are biting ! Cultivate your patience as well as your
appetites and we'll surprise you soon !"
"Bettina, let me help you unpack. Everything looks so
dainty and interesting!" said Alice, as Bob and Mr. Harrison
strolled off toward the river. "You ought to have allowed me
to bring something, although I'll admit that I do enjoy being
surprised. You were a dear to bring me with you !"
"I ?" said Bettina. "Of course I'm glad to have you here —
no one is better fun — but I wish you had heard something that
Bob told me. He and Harry Harrison were planning to go
fishing today, all by themselves, until Harry suggested that
Bob might like to bring me along. And then he added as an
afterthought, that as three is a crowd, Miss Alice might be
induced to come too. (Why is it that 'Miss Alice' or 'Miss
Kate' or 'Miss May' always sounds so like a confirmed bache-
lor?) Bob chuckled when he told me how careless and offhand
Harry tried to be !"
"Betty, how pretty those pasteboard plates are with the flag-
seals pasted on them !"
"I saw some ready-made Fourth of July plates, but it was
more economical to make my own. And how do you like the
red, white and blue paper napkins and lunch cloth? 'Lunch
paper/ I ought to say, I suppose. Alice, you arrange the fruit
in the center in this basket, with some napkins around it, and
32
With Bettinas Best Recipes 83
with these little flags sticking out of it in every direction. But
first, my dear, please tell me why you changed the subject
when I was speaking of Mr. Harrison?"
"Those devilled eggs wrapped in frilled tissue-paper look
just like torpedoes."
"Alice, Alice, I learned something new about you today.
Harry said that society girls got on his nerves, but that 'Miss
Alice* seemed sensible enough!"
"Goodness, Betty, he has disagreed with every single thing
I've said, so far! If he is being pleasant behind my back, I
don't see why he should be so disapproving in his manner to
me ! But if he is really beginning to think me sensible, let us
by all means encourage him! Hide my frivolous new hat in
the lunch-basket, and give me something useful to be doing.
Can't I appear to be mixing the salad ? . . . Honestly, Betty,
I do get tired of society as a single interest. But what else is
there for me to do? Go into settlement work? I'd be a joke
at that! Learn to design jewelry? Take singing lessons ?"
"Try the good old profession of matrimony. Why are you
so fickle, Alice, my dear?"
"I'm not ; it's the men ! Every sensible one I meet is — well,
disagreeable to me!"
"Meaning Harry Harrison ? He appears to be taking quite
an interest, at least !"
"That is merely his reforming instinct coming to the surface.
But — is everything ready now? We'll sing a few bars of the
Star Spangled Banner, and I'm sure the men will come imme-
diately !"
The lunch table was set with:
Lobster and Salmon Salad
Ham Sandwiches Nut Bread Sandwiches
Pickles Radishes
Potato Chips Devilled Eggs
Moist Chocolate Cake
Bananas Oranges
Torpedo Candies
Lemonade
34 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Lobster and Salmon Salad (Four portions)
I C-salmon 6 sweet pickles cut fine
y2 C-lobster 3 hard-cooked eggs, sliced
I C-diced cucumber or celery 1 t-salt
y2 C-salad dressing
Mix the ingredients in the order given. Use a silver fork
for mixing. Garnish with lettuce leaves.
Ham Sandwiches (Four portions)
Y2. C-chopped ham 1 T-chopped olives
2 T-pickles 3 T-salad dressing
12 slices bread
Mix ham, olives and pickles with salad dressing and spicad
on lettuce or nasturtium leaves between buttered slices of bread.
Trim off the crusts, and cut the sandwiches in fancy shapes.
Devilled Eggs (Six eggs)
6 hard-cooked eggs 1 t-melted butter
1 t-vinegar J4 t-chopped parsley
Y\ t-mustard % t-salt
Shell the eggs, cut lengthwise in half, remove yolks, mash
them and add vinegar, mustard, melted butter, parsley and salt.
Refill the whites and put pairs together. Wrap in tissue paper
with frilled edges to represent torpedoes.
Moist Chocolate Cake (Ten portions)
1/3 C-butter 1 C-flour
1 C-sugar i$4 t-baking powder
2 eggs Yi t-cinnamon
Y2. C-hot mashed potatoes \i t-clove
1 ounce melte.d chocolate Yz t-nutmeg
Ya C-milk 1 t-vanilla
Cream the butter, add the sugar. Mix well. Add the egg
yolks, slightly beaten, and the potato. Stir, add the chocolate,
milk and then all the dry ingredients which have been mixed
and sifted together. Fold in the white of the eggs Deaten
stiffly. Add the vanilla. Pour into two layer-cake pans which
have been prepared with waxed paper. Bake in a moderate
oven for thirty minutes. Ice with white mountain cream icing.
CHAPTER IX
BETTINA'S FATHER TRIES HER COOKING
^QO she is about to try her cooking on me, is she?" said
^ Bettina's father to Bob, as he sat down at the table.
"Well, I'll admit that I have looked forward to this all day.
But there was a time when I was a little more skeptical of Bet-
tina's culinary skill. You know, when mother was in Califor-
nia two years ago last winter "
"Now, Charlie, you know that all girls have to learn at some
time or other," interrupted Bettina's mother. "And I believe
that Bob has fared pretty well, considering that Bettina is just
beginning to keep house "
"I should say so!" said Bob, heartily. "Why, I'm getting
fat ! I was weighed to-day, and "
"Don't say any more, Bob ! We'll rent the house and take
to boarding! If you get fat "
"No boarding-houses for mine! Not after your cooking,
Bettina! I had enough of boarding before I was married.
Say — how long ago that does seem."
"Has the time dragged as much as that? Well, I'll change
the subject. Dad, how do you like my Japanese garden? I
think it's pretty, don't you ?"
"I certainly do, my dear. What are those feathery things ?"
"Why, don't you know that, Father? And when you were
a boy, you worked on a farm one summer, too- There";, ex
parsnip and a horse radish, and a beet. Then there are a few
parsley seeds and grass seeds on a tiny sponge ! And see the
little shells and stones that Bob and I collected for it."
"Yes, we found that pink stone up the river on a picnic a
36 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
year ago last May, before we were engaged, or were we en-
gaged then, Bettina ? And the purple one "
"Oh, you needn't reminisce," Bettina interrupted hastily.
"Eat your dinner."
"Every little stone
Has a meaning all its own,
Every little shell
But it wouldn't do to tell!'
"I composed that poem just this minute," said Bob, undis-
turbed.
"Will you help me get the dessert now, Robert? Are you
ready, Mother? And Father?"
"Yes, indeed. A very fine dinner, Bettina. We never have
steak fixed this way at home; do we, Mother? Can we try it
some day soon ?"
"I have something for dessert that you like, Dad. Guess
what !"
"What is it ? Oh, lemon pie ! That is fine, I can tell you !
But I know already that it won't be as good as your mother's !
Still, we'll try it and see!"
That evening for dinner, Bettina served :
Devilled Steak New Potatoes in Cream
Baking-powder Biscuits Jelly
Cucumber and Radish Salad
Lemon Pie
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Devilled Steak (Four portions)
2 T-butter H t-pepper
i T-onion % t-paprika
iy2 lb. flank steak ^ inch thick i t-mustard
2 T-flour i T-vinegar
i t-salt i T-flour
2 C-water
Melt the butter in a frying-pan, slice the onion in it and saute
gently until golden brown in color. Remove the onion from
With Bettinas Best Recipes 37
the butter, cut the flank steak into pieces three by two inches.
Dredge these lightly in one tablespoon flour and saute in the
butter until well browned. Remove the meat from the frying-
pan ; add the salt, pepper, paprika, mustard, vinegar and flour.
Mix all together and add the water slowly. Replace the steak
in the pan, cover closely and simmer one hour, or until the
steak is tender. Serve on a warm platter and pour the gravy
over it.
Baking Powder Biscuit (Fifteen biscuits)
2 C-flour y^ t-salt
4 t-baking powder 3 T-lard
2/3 C-milk
Mix and sift the flour, baking powder and salt; cut in the
lard with a knife until the consistency of cornmeal. Add the
milk, mixing with a knife. Pat into a rectangular shape, one-
half inch thick, on a floured board. Cut with, a biscuit cutter
one and one-half inches in diameter. Place side by side in a
tin pan. Bake in a moderate oven fifteen minutes.
Cucumber and Radish Salad (Four portions)
1 C-diced cucumbers 1 t-salt
y2 C-diced radishes % t-pepper
2 t-chopped onion 4 T-salad dressing
4 lettuce leaves
Mix the cucumbers, radishes, onions, salt and pepper. Add
salad dressing. Serve on lettuce leaves.
Lemon Pie
Filling 2 egg-yolks
1 C-sugar ix/2 C-water
y2 t-salt 1 t-grated rind
juice 1 large lemon y2 C-flour
1 t-butter
Beat the egg yolks, add the sugar gradually and beat; add
the flour, salt, water, lemon juice and rind. Cook in a double
boiler until it thickens. Pour into the pastry shell, cover with
meringue and bake in a moderate oven until the meringue is
brown.
38 A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband
Pie Crust
I C-flour yz t-salt
1/3 C-lard 2 T-cold water
Cut the lard into the flour and salt with a knife. Add the
water gradually, lifting with a knife that portion that was
moistened first and pushing it to one side of the bowl, wet an-
other portion and continue until all is moistened, using just
enough water to hold together. Put together and place on a
floured board. Roll the crust to fit the pan. Press the crust
firmly into the bottom of the pan. Prick the sides and bottom
with a fork. Crinkle the edges of the crust ; have the crust ex-
tend above the edge of the pan to make a deep shell for the
filling. Bake the crust first to make it more crisp. Do not
butter the pan. Bake from five to six minutes in a hot oven.
When the crust is done, add the filling and cover this with
the meringue.
Meringue
2 egg whites beaten stiff 5 T-sugar (powdered preferred)
y2 t-lemon extract
Do not beat the egg-whites until ready for use. Then beat
until stiff and add the sugar and extract, beating only a minute.
Pile the meringue lightly on top of the filling, and bake the
whole slowly. If baked too quickly, the meringue will rise and
then fall. Bake only until it turns a golden brown.
CHAPTER X
A MOTOR PICNIC
^TJ ELLO, Bettina ; this is Bob. What are you having for
* ■■■ dinner to-night?"
"It's all in the fireless cooker ! Why ?"
"Couldn't you manage to make a picnic supper of it? One
of the men at the office has invited us to go motoring to-night
with him and his wife, and, of course, I said we'd be delighted.
They're boarding, poor things, and I asked if we couldn't
bring the supper. He seemed glad to have me suggest it. I
suppose he hasn't had any home cooking for months. Do you
suppose you could manage the lunch ? How about it ?"
"Why, let me think ! How soon must we start?"
"We'll be there in an hour or a little less. Don't bother about
it — get anything you happen to have."
"It's fine to go, dear. Of course, I'll be ready. Good-bye !"
Bettina's brain was busy. There was a veal loaf baking in
one compartment of the cooker, and on the other side, some
Boston brown bread was steaming. Her potatoes were cooked
already for creaming, and although old potatoes would have
been better for the purpose, she might make a salad of them}
As she hastily put on some eggs to hard-cook, she inspected her
ice box. Yes, those cold green beans, left from last night's
dinner, would be good in the salad. What else? "It needs
something to give it character," she reflected. "A little canned
pimento — and, yes — a few of the pickles in that jar."
Of course, she had salad dressing — she was never without
it. Sandwiches? The brown bread would be too fresh and
soft for sandwiches, but she could keep it hot, and take some
SU
40 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
butter along. "I'm glad it is cool to-day. We'll need hot
coffee in the thermos bottle, and I can make it a warm supper —
except for the salad."
She took the veal loaf and the steamed brown bread from
the cooker, and put them into the oven to finish cooking.
"How lucky it is that I made those Spanish buns ! And the
bananas that were to have been sliced for dessert, I can just
take along whole."
When Bettina heard the auto horn, and then Bob's voice, she
was putting on her hat.
"Well, Betty, could you manage it ?"
"Yes, indeed, dear. Everything is ready. The thermos bot-
tle has coffee in it, piping hot ; the lunch basket over there is
packed with the warm things wrapped tight, and that pail with
the burlap over it is a temporary ice box. It holds a piece of
ice, and beside it is the cream for the coffee and the potato
salad. It is cool to-day, but I thought it best to pack them that
way."
"You are the best little housekeeper in this town," said Bob
as he kissed her. "I don't believe anyone else could have man-
aged a picnic supper on such short notice. Come on out and
meet Mr. and Mrs. Dixon. May I tell them that they have a
fine spread coming?"
"Don't you dare, sir. It's a very ordinary kind of a sup-
per, and even you are apt to be disappointed."
But he wasn't.
Bettina's picnic supper that cool day consisted of:
Warm Veal Loaf Cold Potato Salad
Fresh Brown Bread Butter
Spanish Buns Bananas
Hot Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Veal Loaf (Six to eight portions)
2 lbs. lean veal 4 t-onion salt
y2 lb. salt pork 1 T-salt
6 large crackers H t-pepper
2 T-lemon juice 4 T-cream
With Bettina's Best Recipes 41
Put two crackers in the meat grinder, add bits of meat and
pork and the rest of the crackers. The crackers first and last
prevent the pork and meat from sticking to the grinder. Add
other ingredients in order named. Pack in a well-buttered
oread-pan. Smooth evenly on top, brush with white of an Qgg
and bake one hour in a moderate oven. Baste frequently. The
meat may be cooked in a fireless cooker between two stones. It
is perfectly satisfactory cooked this way, and requires no
basting,
Boston Brown Bread (Six portions)
I C-rye or graham flour $4 C-molasses
I C-cornmeal JA C-sugar
I C-white flour il/2 C-sour milk or i% C-sweet
I t-salt milk or water
iV2 t-soda 2/3 C-raisins
Mix and sift dry ingredients, add molasses and liquid. Fill
well-buttered moulds two-thirds full, butter the top of mould,
and steam three and one-half hours. Remove from moulds
and place in an oven to dry ten minutes before serving. 1 — If
sweet milk is used, 1 T-vinegar to 1^4 C will sour the milk.
2 — Baking powder cans, melon moulds, lard pails or any at-
tractively shaped tin cans may be used as a mould. 3 — Two
methods of steaming are used: (a) Regular steamer in which
the mould, either large or individual, is placed over a pan of
boiling water. Buttered papers may be tied firmly over the
tops of uncovered moulds, (b) Steaming in boiling water.
The mould is placed on a small article in the bottom of a pan
of boiling water. This enables the water to circulate around
the mould. Care must be observed in keeping the kettle two-
thirds full of boiling water all of the time of cooking. (Bet-
tina used the method in the fireless cooker.) She started
the brown bread in the cooker utensil on the top of the stove.
When the water was boiling vigorously, she placed it over one
hot stone in the cooker. The water came two-thirds of the dis-
tance to the top of her cans. In the cooker, she did not have to
watch for fear the water would boil away. After fastening
the lid tightly on the cooker-kettle in which the bread was to
steam, she did not look at it again for four hours. (It takes
a little longer in the cooker than on the stove.)
CHAPTER XI
BETTINA HAS A CALLER
THE next morning Bettina was alone in her little kitchen
when the door bell rang.
"Why, Mrs. Dixon ; how do you do ?" she said, as she
opened the door and recognized the visitor. "Won't you come
in?"
It must be admitted that Bettina was somewhat embarrassed
at the unexpected call at so unconventional a time. Mrs. Dixon
was dressed in a trim street costume, but under her veil Bet-
tina could see that her eyes were red, and her lips quivered as
she answered :
"Forgive me for coming so early, but I just had to. I know
you'll think me silly to talk to you confidentially when I met
you only yesterday, but I do want your advice about some-
thing. You mustn't stop what you are doing. Couldn't I come
into the kitchen and talk while you work?"
"Why, my dear, of course you can," said Bettina, trying to
put her at her ease. "You can't guess what I was doing! I
was washing my pongee dress; someone told me of such a
good way!"
"Why, could you do it all yourself?" said Mrs. Dixon, open-
ing her eyes wide. "Why not send it to be dry-cleaned ?"
"Of course I might," said Bettina, "but it would be expen-
sive, and I do like to save a little money every month from
my housekeeping allowance. There are always so many things
I want to get. You see I'm doing this in luke-warm, soapy
water — throwing the soap-suds up over the goods, then I'll
rinse it well, and hang it in the shade to drip until it gets dry.
42
With Bettina s Best Recipes 43
I won't press it till it is fully dry, because if I do, it will be
spotted."
"How do you learn things like that?"
"Oh, since I've been married, and even before, when I
thought about keeping house, I began to pick up all sorts of
good ideas. I like economizing; it gives me an opportunity
to use all the ingenuity I have."
"Does it? I always thought it would be awfully tiresome.
You see, I've lived in a hotel all my life ; my mother never
was strong, and I was the only child. I liked it, and since I've
been married, we've lived the same way. I never thought of
anything else and I supposed Frank would like it, too — but
lately — oh, all the last year — he's been begging me to let him
find us a house. And then" — (Bettina saw that her eyes had
filled with tears) — "he has been so different. You have no idea,
my dear. Why — he hasn't been at home with me two even-
ings a week — and "
"You must be dreadfully unhappy," interrupted Bettina,
wondering what she could say, since she disliked particularly
to listen to any account of domestic difficulties. "But why not
try keeping house? Maybe that would be better. Why, Bob
doesn't like to be away from home any evenings at all."
"But you've just been married !" said Mrs. Dixon, tactlessly.
"Wait and see how he'll be after a few years !"
"Well, that's all the more reason for trying to make him like
his home. Have you thought of taking a house ?"
"That was just the reason I came to you. You seem to be
so happy living this way — and it surprised me. I knew last
evening what Frank was thinking when he saw this little house
— and then when you unpacked the lunch — tell me honestly,
did you cook it yourself?"
"Of course," said Bettina, smiling.
"Wasn't it hard to learn ? Why, I can't cook a thing — I can't
even make coffee ! Frank says if he could only have one break-
fast that was fit to eat " and she buried her face in her
handkerchief.
"Why, Mrs. Dixon !" cried Bettina, cheerfully, though her
heart was beating furiously. "Your trouble is the easiest one
44 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
in the world to remedy ! Your husband is just hungry — that's
all ! I'll tell you — we'll make this a little secret between us, arid
have such fun over it! You do just as I tell you for one
month and I'll guarantee that Frank will be at home every sin-
gle minute that he can !"
"Do you suppose I can learn?"
"I'll show you every single thing. We'll slip out this very
day and look for a little house — to surprise Frank ! And I'll
teach you to cook by easy stages !"
"Oh, will you?" smiled Mrs. Dixon, showing an adorable
dimple in her round cheek. "You don't know how much bet-
ter I feel already ! When can we begin ?"
"Right now — with coffee — real, sure 'nough coffee that will
make Frank's eyes stick out ! Have you a percolator ?"
"No, but I can get one."
"It isn't necessary at all. I'll tell you how to do without it,
and then using one will be perfectly simple."
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Coffee (Four cups)
7 T-coffee *A T-egg white
3 T-cold water 4J4 C-boiling water
Scald the coffee pot, add the coffee, cold water and egg-
white. Mix thoroughly, add the boiling water. Boil two min-
utes. Allow to stand in the pot one minute. Serve.
Twin Mountain Muffins
2 C-flour i egg
4 t-baking powder I C-milk
YA t-salt I T-melted butter
*4 C-sugar
Mix and sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and
sugar. Beat the egg, add the milk; add these liquid ingredi-
ents to the dry ones. Beat two minutes. Add the melted
butter. Fill well buttered muffin pans one-half full. Bake in
a moderate oven twenty minutes.
CHAPTER XII
BETTINA AND THE EXPENSE BUDGET
CCn UTH asked me today how we manage our finances,"
A^ said Bettina over the dinner table. "She said that she
and Fred were wondering what plan was best. I'm so glad I
have a definite household allowance and that we have bulgeted
our expenses so successfully. The other day I was reading an
article by Carolyn Claymore in which she says that three-
fourths of the domestic troubles are caused by disagreements
about money."
"Then we haven't much to quarrel about, have we, Betty?
That is true in more than one sense. But I'm sure that this
way seems to suit us to a T."
'Tm even saving money, Bob."
"I don't see how you can when you give me such good
things to eat, and when we have so much company."
"Well, I plan ahead, you know — plan for my left-overs be-
fore they are left, even. I do think that an instinct for buying
and planning is better than an instinct for cooking. And either
one can be cultivated. But it was certainly hard to get that
budget of expenses fixed satisfactorily, wasn't it? I told Ruth
that no two families are alike, and that I couldn't tell her just
what they ought to spend for clothes, or just what groceries
ought to cost. After all, it is an individual matter which
things are necessities and which are luxuries. The chief thing
is to live within your means, and save as well as invest some-
thing— and at the same time be comfortable and happy. I told
Ruth we started with the fixed sums and the absolute neces-
45
46 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
sities, and worked backward. I told her they must absolutely
be saving something, if only a quarter a week. Then, that
Fred must manage the budget of expenses that comes within
his realm, and not interfere with hers, and that she must do
the same with the household expenditures, and not worry him.
It takes a lot of adjusting to make the system work satisfac-
torily, but it is certainly worth it."
"Did you tell Ruth about the envelope system that my sister
Harriet, uses ? She says she is so careless naturally that when
George gives her her allowance each month, she has to put the
actual cash in separate envelopes, and then vow to herself that
she will not borrow from the gas money to make the change
for the grocer-boy, and so forth. That is the only way she
can teach herself."
"My cousin's wife used to keep the most wonderful and
complete accounts, but she couldn't tell without a lot of work
in hunting up the items how much she already had spent for
groceries or clothes or anything. She had to change her
method, and it was she who taught me to keep my accounts in
parallel columns, a page for a week, because you give me my
allowance each week. I like this way so much, for I can tell
at a glance how my expenses are comparing with the allotted
sum."
"I like to look at your funny, neat little notebook, Bettina,
all ruled so carefully for the week, and the headings, such as
gas, electricity, groceries, meat, milk, laundry, across the top."
"Don't make fun of my notebook. I couldn't keep house
without it. In case of fire, I'd save it first of all, I know ! It
is almost like a diary to me! I can look back over it and
remember, 'That was the day Bob brought Mr. Green home
and we almost ran out of potatoes !' Or This was the day I
thought my brown bread had failed, but Bob seemed to like
it !' " she exaggerated.
"Failures in cooking ! Why, Bettina, I don't know the mean-
ing of the words ! And I don't see how you can feed me so
well on the sum I give you for the purpose. I'd feel guilty,
only you don't look a bit unhappy or overworked."
"I should say not !"
With Bettinas Best Recipes 41
"You surely don't remember how to cook all the things you
give me 1"
"No, indeed, Bob, not definitely, that is. You see, on the
shelf by my account book, which you smile over, I have my
card index with lots and lots of recipes filed away. Then I
have notebooks, too, with all sorts of suggestions tucked in
them just where I can lay my hand on them."
"Betty dear, you've given me a real glimpse into your busi-
ness-like methods ! Some men seem to think that it doesn't
take brains to run a house well, but they don't know. It re-
quires just as much executive ability and common sense as it
does to manage a big business."
That night the dinner for two consisted of :
BETTINA'S RECIPES
Cold Ham Green Peppers Stuffed with Rice
Light Rolls Peach Butter
Hot Fudge Cake
CA11 measurements are level)
Light Rolls
2 T-sugar ^ C-flour
Yi t-salt 2 T-melted butter
l/2 C-scalded milk i egg, well-beaten
^2 yeast cake 2 T-lukewarm water
flour
Add the sugar and salt to the scalded milk and when luke-
warm, add the yeast dissolved in the lukewarm water, and
three-fourths of a cup of flour. Cover and set in a warm
place to rise. Then add the melted butter, the well-beaten egg,
and enough flour to knead. Let rise in a warm place. Roll to
one-half an inch in thickness and shape with a biscuit cutter.
Butter the top of each. Fold over, place in a buttered pan,
close together. Let rise again for forty-five minutes and then
bake in a quick oven for twenty minutes.
Green Peppers Stuffed with Rice
6 green peppers 1 T-chopped green pepper
1 C-white sauce 3 onions cooked and cut fine
Yi C-cooked rice l/2 t-paprika
4-8 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Cut the stem ends from the peppers, and remove all seeds ;
add one-eighth of a teaspoonful of soda to each pepper, fill
with water and allow to stand one-half hour. Mix one cup of
white sauce with the rice, onions, chopped pepper and paprika.
Fill the pepper cases and bake thirty minutes in a moderate
oven.
Hot Fudge Cake
1/3 C-butter y2 C-hot water
1 C-sugar 2 C-flour
2 egg yolks 1 t-cinnamon
2 squares (or ounces) of choc- 1 t-soda
olate, melted 1 t-baking powder
x/2 C-molasses */$ t-salt
y2 C-sour milk 1 t-vanilla
2 egg whites
Cream the butter, add the sugar and continue creaming. Add
the egg yolks, melted chocolate, molasses, sour milk, hot water,
flour, cinnamon, soda, baking powder, salt and vanilla. Beat
two minutes, and add the stiffly beaten egg whites. Fill well-
buttered muffin pans one-half full, and bake in a moderate oven
for twenty-five minutes. Serve hot as a dessert, with whipped
cream.
CHAPTER XIII
MRS. DIXON AND BETTINA'S EXPERIMENT
*fT'M so happy!" said Mrs. Dixon, as she stopped at Bet-
«■■ tina's door one cool morning. "But I'm nervous, too !
What if Frank shouldn't like it?"
"Oh, but he will !" Bettina assured her. "He'll think he's
the luckiest man in town, and I almost believe that he is ! He'll
love that dear little white house with the screened porch ! Why,
the very grass looks as if it longed to spell 'Welcome' like
•some of the door mats I've seen ! And think of the flower
boxes ! You were very fortunate to rent it for a year, fur-
nished so nicely, and probably when that time is up you'll be
ready to build or buy one of your own."
"You are a dear to cheer me up this way, but I'm nervous in
spite of you. Perhaps I should have consulted Frank before
I promised to take the house."
"But he has been urging you to keep house for so long!
And I know he'll be grateful to you for sparing him the worry
of hunting one himself. Besides, he'll like being surprised."
"Well, I'll go back to the hotel for luncheon with him, and
then I'll phone him later to meet me at the house. I won't
tell him a thing; I'll just give him the address.. Til say it's
very, very important. That will surprise him and perhaps will
frighten him a little. He never does leave his office during
business hours, but it will take only a few minutes for him to
run out here in the car. Goodness, I'm forgetting what I came
for! Do you suppose I am too stupid to try to make those
Spanish buns Frank liked so much? We had them at the
picnic, you know. I have three hours after luncheon until he
■comes, and I just long to give him some good coffee and some
49
50 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Spanish buns that I've made myself ! That little kitchen looks
as if it would be so nice to work in ! I tried coffee a little
while ago over at the house, and really — it was fine ! It looked
just like yours ! I was so surprised ! To think of my doing
such things!"
"Of course you could make Spanish buns; it would be fine
if you would. I'll tell you, — why not let me come over for an
hour right after luncheon and superintend? Then I'll slip
home so that you can be alone when Frank comes. I could
tell you some other things about cooking while we're there
together, — things you may write down in your new notebook.
For example, I've often wondered that so few housekeepers
can make good white sauce."
"What in the world is that?"
"It's used in cream soups, and it's the cream part of creamed
vegetables and meat and fish, and then there is a thicker white
sauce that is used to bind croquettes — that is, hold the ingre-
dients together. There are really four kinds of white sauces
and they are very simple to make. I think everyone should
know the right way to make them, for they are useful in
preparing so many good things."
"I'm glad we'll be near you because I can ask you so many-
questions."
"And I'm glad that it is summer, because you can have so
many things that require little or no cooking, and by fall, I'm
sure you will be an accomplished housekeeper."
"Will you come over at two, then, or earlier if you can?"
"Of course I will !"
And as Mrs. Dixon hurried away Bettina felt a sympathetic
thrill at the happiness two other people were about to find.
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Spanish Buns (Twelve Buns)
]/2 C-butter 3 t-baking powder
1 C-sugar 1 t-cinnamon
1 egg-yolk Va, t-powdered cloves
y3 C-milk 1 egg-white beaten stiffly
iH C-flour 1 t-vanilla
Y* C-currants
With Bettinas Best Recipes 51
Cream the butter and sugar, add the tgg yolk. Mix and
sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and cloves ; add these
and the milk to the first mixture. Beat one minute. Add the
vanilla and the stiffly beaten egg white. Bake in well buttered
muffin pans twenty minutes in a moderate oven. Ice with con-
fectioner's icing.
Confectioner's Icing (Twelve portions)
3 T-cream I t-vanilla
i C-powdered sugar
Mix the cream and vanilla, add sugar slowly until the con-
sistency to spread (more sugar may be needed). This is a
most satisfactory frosting and is easily and quickly made. It
is suitable for hot weather.
White Sauces (Four portions)
i — Soup
I T-flour i C-liquid
1 T-butter & t-*alt
This is the consistency for creamed soups.
a — Vegetable Sauce
2 T-butter i C-milk
2 T-flour yA t-salt
This white sauce is used for creamed vegetables, creamed
fish, etc. This amount is required for two cups of vegetables.
3 — Pattie Sauce
3 T-butter i C-milk
3 T-flour 1/3 t-salt
This sauce is used for oyster or other patties.
4 — Croquette Sauce
3 T-butter i C-milk
4 T-flour 1/3 t-salt
This is called a binding white sauce and is used to hold other
ingredients together.
52 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Method of Preparing White Sauces
Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour and salt,
stirring constantly. When well mixed add the liquid, a little
at a time. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. This is far
better than mixing the flour with a little of the liquid when
cold, as so many people do when creaming potatoes or other
things. If the white sauce seems too thick for the purpose,
thin with a little more liquid before removing from the fire.
CHAPTER XIV
A RAINY-DAY DINNER
THE rain had been falling all day in a heavy downpour,
and Bettina had ventured out only to gather some red
clover blooms for the porch table, which she was now setting
for dinner. In spite of the rain, it was not cold, and she liked
the contrast of the cheerful little table, with its white cloth and
bright silver, and the gray day just outside the screen.
"If Bob would only come home early, how nice it would be !"
she thought. "Perhaps that's he at the telephone now."
However, it proved to be Mrs. Dixon. "I phoned to ask
you if I should throw away the yolks of two eggs. I've just
used the whites."
"Oh, no, Mrs. Dixon ! Beat them up well, and add a little
cold water to them. Then set them in the ice-box. They
will be just as good later as they would be now. You may
want them for salad dressing or something else."
"If I ever have the white of the egg left, shall I treat that
the same way?"
"No, don't beat that up at all, nor add any water. Just set
it in the refrigerator as it is. I'm so glad you called up, Mrs.
Dixon. Will you and your husband take dinner with us next
Sunday ? Perhaps we might all go to church first."
"We'd love to do that! I've just been worrying over Sun-
day dinner, and you've restored my peace of mind. But won't
it be a great deal of work for you ?"
"I won't let it be. I don't believe in those heavy, elaborate
Sunday dinners that take all the morning to prepare. We'll
just come home from church and have it in half an hour. You
may help me."
53
54 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
"We'd love to come. I have so much to tell you. Fve been
very busy, but Frank has helped, and it has been such fun!
You don't know how he enjoys the little house ! Well, good-
bye till tomorrow !"
"Boo !" shouted Bob in her ear, as she hung up the receiver.
"I discovered your dark secret this morning! Frank Dixon
told me!"
"Well, what did you think of it?"
"The only possible solution in that case. You are their good
angel — that is, if she doesn't poison Frank with her cooking,
or burn the house down when she's lighting the fire."
"She won't, don't worry ! She takes to housekeeping as if
she had always done it. Her house is immaculate; she has
been cleaning and dusting and polishing from morning to night.
I'm almost ashamed of mine !"
"I'm not!" said Bob, decidedly. "I don't see how you can
keep it clean at all with a man like me scattering papers and
cigar ashes everywhere. And I'm always losing my belong-
ings, and always will, I suppose."
"That's only a sign that we haven't discovered the proper
place for them all yet. But we'll work it out in time. Well,
are you hungry ?"
"Hungry ? I should say so ! Why, I could almost eat you !"
"Well, Bob, we have a rainy-day dinner tonight that I hope
you'll enjoy. Hash! Does that frighten you?"
"Not your hash, Betty."
"Well, everything is ready."
The rainy evening menu consisted of :
Browned Hash Creamed Cauliflower
Date Muffins Butter
Apple Sauce Cake Chocolate
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Browned Hash (Two portions)
I C-chopped cold cooked beef % t-pepper
I C-cold boiled potatoes diced i T-milk
a few drops of onion juice i T-fat (lard, butter or one-
2/3 t-salt half of each)
With Bettina's Best Recipes 55
Mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Spread the mixture
evenly in a hot frying-pan in which the fat has been placed.
Cook without stirring until a crust is formed on the bottom;
fold over like an omelet and place on a hot platter.
Creamed Cauliflower (Two portions)
i head cauliflower I t-salt
4 C-water I C-vegetable white sauce
Separate cauliflower into sections, wash well and cook in
boiling salted water until tender. (About half an hour.) Drain
and cover with vegetable white sauce.
Date Muffins (Ten muffins)
54 C-sugar 54 C-milk
54 C-dates cut fine i^ C-flour
i egg 4 t-baking powder
*4 t-salt 2 T-butter (melted)
Mix the sugar, dates, baking powder, flour and salt. Add
milk in which one egg has been beaten. Beat two minutes.
Add butter, melted. Fill well-buttered muffin pans half full
of the mixture, and place in the oven. Bake twenty minutes.
Serve hot or cold.
Apple Sauce Cake (Ten portions)
Y* t-powdered cloves
: C-hot, thick, strained, sweet-
light ened apple sauce
I C-mixed, chopped raisins, nut
meats and dates
I t-vanilla
Cream the butter, add the sugar gradually. Stir well. Add
the well-beaten egg. Mix the soda and apple-sauce, and add
to the first ingredients. Alternately with the flour and spices,
add the vanilla and fruit. Beat for two minutes. Turn into
a square pan, and sift granulated sugar over the top. Bake
in a moderate oven one-half hour.
y2 C-butter
i C-sugar
i egg, beaten
iYa C-flour
i t-soda
V/2 t-cinnamon
CHAPTER XV
BUYING A REFRIGERATOR
»*OOMETHING in refrigerators?" said the clerk politely
^ to Mrs. Dixon and Bettina.
"You talk to him," said Mrs. Dixon. "I don't know a thing
about a refrigerator ; that's why I begged you to come."
"Well," considered Bettina, her red brown head on one
side, "we want one that will hold not less than a hundred
pounds of ice. The large ones are much more economical in
the long run. Here, Mrs. Dixon, is a hundred-pound fellow.
May we examine it, please?"
"Certainly, madam."
"No, this won't do. See, Mrs. Dixon, the trap is in the
bottom of the food chamber. That is wasteful and incon-
venient, because in cleaning it you would have to leave the
door of the larger compartment open. That would let the
cold air out and waste the ice. Anyhow, you know the trap
is the sewer of the refrigerator, and has no business in the food
chamber. The trap really ought to be in the bottom of the ice
chamber, where it can be cleaned without removing the food,
or opening the door of the food compartment. Besides, I
prefer to have the ice put in at a door on the side of the front,
not on the top. Yes, here is the kind I mean. I like this trap,
too. See, Mrs. Dixon, isn't it fine? It has a white enamel
lining and shelves of open wire that can be removed."
"It looks nice, doesn't it? And when I get some white shelf
paper on those shelves it will be like an attractive cupboard."
"Oh, my dear ! You mustn't do that ! That would prevent
the circulation of air through the ice-box, which is the very
56
With Bettinas Best Recipes 57
thing that makes the food compartment cold. You see, that
circulation of air goes on through these open-wire shelves.
Another thing, I've seen people cover the ice with news-
papers to keep it from melting, as they thought. But they
were mistaken. Any friction causes warmth, and ice keeps
better when there is nothing touching it."
"Well, if you like this one, I'll ask the price of it."
"It will be expensive, I'm afraid, but the most economical in
the long run. Are you staying downtown to meet Mr. Dixon ?"
"Yes, I'd like him to see the refrigerator. He takes such an
interest in these household things I'm getting."
"Well, good-bye, dear. I must hurry home to get dinner.
It won't take long, but I'll have to go, or Bob will get there
first, and I'm a little sentimental about being there to greet
him at the door."
Bettina's dinner that night consisted of :
Broiled Lamb Chops
Boiled New Potatoes New Peas in Cream
Vegetable Salad
Bread Butter
Rhubarb Pudding
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Broiled Lamb Chops (Three portions)
3 chops i t-salt
Wipe chops and place in a red-hot frying-pan. As soon as
the under surface is seared, turn and sear the other side. Turn
down the fire a little, and continue to cook, turning chops
often. Cook seven minutes if liked rare. When cooked,
sprinkle with salt and spread with butter.
Creamed New Peas (Three portions)
I qt. peas */& t-soda
l/2 t-salt
Shell one quart of peas, cover with cold water and let stand
ten minutes, wash well, and drain off the water. Cover with
boiled water and cook twenty to fifty minutes, according to age
58 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
of peas. A pinch of soda may be added to the water. It soft-
ens the skins on the peas. Add salt when the peas have cooked
twenty minutes.
White Sauce for Peas (Three portions)
I T-butter % t-salt
I T-flour y2 C-milk
Melt the butter, add the flour and salt, mixing well, and the
milk, stirring constantly. Cook two minutes. Add the peas.
Rhubarb Pudding (Three portions)
1 C-cooked, sweetened rhubarb I T-cold water
sauce I egg-white
2 T-flour }i t-salt
Add the water slowly to the flour and mix well. Add the
rhubarb sauce and cook until very thick (about five minutes).
Add the stiffly beaten white of egg, mix thoroughly and turn
into moistened moulds. Serve cold with cream.
CHAPTER XVI
POLLY AND THE CHILDREN
f*TT7"ILL you look at the way that child eats her cereal!"
▼ » ejaculated Polly at the breakfast table. "And I
simply can't get her to eat it at home ! In fact, on warm days
like this, she won't eat any breakfast at all."
"I like Aunt Betty's cereal; it looks so pretty," explained
little Dorothy gravely, looking down at her plate of moulded
cereal surrounded by plump red raspberries.
"I hope you don't mind my serving it cold today," said
Bettina. "It seemed so warm yesterday that I cooked the
cereal and put it in moulds in the refrigerator."
"No indeed ! The change is a regular treat for the children.
They like fixed-up things like this, and it certainly does give
anyone an appetite."
"Well, in hot weather, no one feels much like eating, any-
how, so I try to make things as attractive as I can. And I
want the children to have just what they like. . . . You
needn't be afraid of this cream, Polly. We buy it from a
neighbor, and I am absolutely sure that it is both clean and
good. I'm ashamed to say that we have no certified milk in
thi. town. Isn't that dreadful? And people keep on buying it
of dairies that they don't know one thing about ! Why, I've
seen women who had just moved to town, and who knew noth-
ing about conditions here, begin housekeeping by cleaning house
thoroughly from top to bottom, and at the same time, leave
an order for milk with the first dairy wagon that happened to
drive down their street! And they buy groceries and meat
from the nearest stores without knowing that three blocks
59
60 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
away there may be other stores that are better, cleaner and less
expensive. Shouldn't you think that women would insist upon
knowing all about the food they are giving their children? It
seems to me that much common sense in a housewife is a great
deal more important even than knowing how to cook and sew."
"I think that knowing how to plan and buy is more import-
ant than knowing how to do things with your hands," said
Polly. "After all, it's the result that counts. You're a won-
der, Bettina, because you have a useful head and useful hands,
too, but I haven't. So I try to know as much as possible about
every article of food and clothing that I buy, and to be sure
that I am getting the very best value from Tom's money, but I
don't know how to cook or sew or trim hats or embroider. I
like friends and babies and outdoor exercise, but I'll confess
that I don't like housework."
"Well, Tom and the children seem to be perfectly contented
and happy, and so do you. Therefore, you are a successful
housekeeper."
"You are the right kind of a sister-in-law to have, Betty ! I
quite approve of Bob's choice !"
The breakfast that morning consisted of :
Moulded Cream of Wheat
Raspberries
Sugar Cream
Poached Eggs on Toast
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Wheat Cereal (Three portions)
I C-wheat 2 T-cold water
1/3 C-raspberries
Cook the wheat according to the instructions on the pack-
age, only cook twice as long as the directions suggest. Mix
cereal and cold water. Add boiling water slowly. This method
prevents lumping. Wet individual moulds with cold water,
place raspberries around the inside of the mould and fill with
the wheat. Allow to remain in mould for fifteen minutes.
With Bettinas Best Recipes 61
Remove from mould, surround with more berries and serve.
If desired cold, chill in the refrigerator. Cereals may be
cooked in a double boiler or a fireless cooker.
Method of Cooking Cereals
Put the water and salt in the upper part of double boiler
and place directly over the flame. When the water boils, add
the cereal very slowly, stirring constantly. Cook for five min-
utes directly over the fire. Place the upper part in the lower
part of the double boiler containing boiling water, and cook
the required time. All cereals must be thoroughly cooked.
AUGUST.
Twenty little jelly -glasses, twenty pots of jam,
Twenty jars of pickles and preserves,
Making other wealth than this avvear a stupid
snam,
Ah, you dears! What color, gleam and curves!
CHAPTER XVII
BETTINA PUTS UP FRUIT
*«TTONK! Honk !" sounded
*1 an auto horn at Bet-
tina's door one cool morning, as
a crowd of lively voices also
summoned her.
"Bettina, O, Bettina! We've
come to get you to play tennis
with us this morning. You
must! You've been neglecting
us for Bob and we're jealous."
"Oh, girls, I simply can't! I
have just bought quarts and quarts of cherries and currants
of a boy who came to the door, and I must take today to put
them up !"
"That's easy ! Leave 'em till tomorrow !" said Alice cheer-
fully.
"I can't do that, because they're just at the canning point
and it isn't a good thing to have them a bit over-ripe. Then
these are freshly picked, and that is the best way to have
them."
"I'll stay and help; may I?" said Ruth, who had suddenly
developed a deep interest in things domestic.
"Why, of course I'd love to have you, Ruth, but seeding
cherries is slow work, and I believe that playing tennis would
be more exciting."
"But not half so interesting as to hear you tell me how you
do things. I love to listen."
63
04 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
"We'll all stay," suggested Mary. "It'll do us good. But
you'll have to lend us big aprons ; can you ?" And she looked
down at her white middy, skirt, and shoes.
"Come on !" shouted Elsie. "You can lecture as we seed
cherries, Bettina. How are you going to put them up ?"
"Well, Bob likes plain currant jelly, and plain canned cher-
ries awfully well. I may preserve some cherries with currant
juice, too, but I think I'll not do anything very elaborate
today."
"Goodness, that sounds elaborate enough to suit me ! Will
you be looking over the currants while we are stoning cher-
ries?"
"Leave the stones in half of them, girls; many people like
them that way better."
"What were you doing to all those jars?"
"Just getting ready to sterilize them. You see I'll put
them on a folded cloth, in this big kettle of cold water. Then
I'll slowly heat the water to the boiling point, and fill the jars
immediately with the fruit and syrup. I must scald the rub-
ber rings, too, before I use them."
Bettina was rapidly looking over currants as she talked.
"Girls, do you notice my jelly strainer? See, it's a piece of
cheese-cloth fastened into a wire strainer. It can be attached
to any kettle. I haven't used it yet, but I know that it will be
very convenient. You know it's best to strain the juice through
the cheese-cloth without pressure. If I have the cloth double,
the juice will be quite clear. If I wanted an especially clear
jelly, I could even have the juice pass through a flannel or
felt bag."
"How on earth can you tell when the jelly jells?" asked
Ruth.
"Well, I test it this way. I take up, in a cold silver spoon,
a little of the mixture that is cooking. If it jells and breaks
from the spoon, it has been cooking long enough. Of course I
remove the rest from the fire while testing it, because it might
be done."
"Bettina, cooking and jelly-making and things like that seem
to be so natural for you !" cried Ruth. "I get so frightened
With Bettinas Best Recipes 65
sometimes when I think what if I should be a poor house-
keeper and make Fred unhappy !"
"Alice," said Mary, "Heaven forbid that either of us should
ever be talking like that about a man !"
"Goodness, I should say so !" declared Alice emphatically, a
little too emphatically, thought Bettina.
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Currant Jelly
2 qts. currants sugar
Pick over currants, but do not remove the stems. Wash
and drain. Mash a few with a vegetable masher in the bottom
of a porcelain-lined or granite kettle. Add more currants and
mash. Continue adding currants until all are used. Bring
to a boil slowly and let simmer without stirring until the cur-
rants appear white. Strain through a coarse strainer, and
allow juice to drain through a jelly bag. Measure the juice,
and boil ten minutes. Gradually add an equal amount of heated
sugar, stirring occasionally to prevent burning, and continue
boiling until the test shows that the mixture has jelled. When
filling sterilized glasses, place them in a pan containing a little
boiling water. This keeps the glasses from breaking when
hot jelly is poured in. Fill and set the glasses of jelly aside to
cool. Cover with hot melted paraffin.
Canned Cherries
6 qts. cherries iJ/2 qts. sugar
y2 pt. water
Measure the cherries after the stems have been removed.
Stone if desired. If they are stoned, be sure to save the juice.
Put the sugar and water in a kettle and stir over the fire until
the sugar is dissolved. Add the cherries and heat slowly to
the boiling point. Boil ten minutes skimming carefully. Put
into sterilized jars, filling the jars to overflowing with the
syrup. Seal securely. (When filling the jars stand them in
a pan containing boiling water. This keeps them from break-
ing.)
66 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Bettina's Jelly-Making Suggestions
I. Use a porcelain-lined or a granite kettle,
z. Let juice drip from a cheese cloth or flannel bag.
3. Measure equal quantities juice and sugar.
4. Boil juice ten minutes, add heated sugar. (Heated by being
placed in warm oven.)
5. Boil until it drops thick from a cold silver spoon, or jells on a
plate.
6. The smaller the quantity of jelly made at a time, the clearer
it is.
7. Cook no more than three cups of jwice at a time.
8. Skim carefully.
9. Boil regularly.
10. Pour in sterilized glasses.
11. Let stand in bright sun twenty-four hours.
12. Cover with very hot paraffin. This kills any bacteria that may
have collected.
13. Keep jelly in a cool, dark, dry place.
CHAPTER XVIII
A COOL SUMMER DAY
* * TTTHY, hello, Ruth !" cried Bettina at the door one after-
▼ V noon. "I haven't seen you for weeks, it seems to me !
What have you been doing ? Come in and give an account of
yourself I"
"First let me deliver these nasturtiums that mother sent,"
said Ruth. "She always remembers how fond you are of
flowers."
"Thank you, they're lovely ! I need them tonight for my
table, too. Will you come into the kitchen with me while I
put these in water ?"
"M-m," said Ruth. "Something smells good ! In the oven ?"
"Yes, pork chops, baked apples and escalloped potatoes.
Peek in and see 'em."
"Outch !" cried Ruth, holding her hand in sudden pain. "I
forgot that that pan was hot, and started to pull it out to see
better ! I'm a perfect idiot ! I do that every time I have any-
thing in the oven !"
"That's a shame, Ruth, dear! Here, apply a little of this
olive oil! It's the nearest remedy I have. Vaseline is good,
too, or baking soda. Hold it with the damp cloth to keep out
the air."
"It feels better already," said Ruth. "I made some ginger-
bread last evening for dinner — Fred was there — and burned
my hand in the same way exactly. And even at such a cost
the gingerbread wasn't very good. I think I didn't bake it quite
long enough. How long ought it to be in the oven ?"
"Well, gingerbread takes longer than most quick-breads.
67
68 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Here, let me give you my time-guide for baking, and you can
keep it in your card-index. Then it's always at hand when
you want to refer to it."
"Thank you, that's a good idea, Bettina. May I sit down
here at the kitchen table and copy it?"
"Do, I'll get you a pencil and a piece of paper. Ruth, won't
you stay to dinner tonight?"
"I can't possibly, Bettina. I am going out with mother, and
should be at home now dressing. Oh, by the way, I had a
chance to refer last night to something you made me copy and
put with my recipe cards. 'How to Remove Grass Stains' ! I
got it on my white dress — a dreadful looking stain — and im-
mediately referred to my card-index. It said, 'Moisten with
alcohol or camphor, allow to stand five minutes, and wash out
with clear water.' The stain came out like magic ! I used cam-
phor ; we didn't happen to have any alcohol in the house."
"I'm so glad it came out ; that is such a pretty white dress.
And weren't you glad you knew just where to find a remedy?
It seems a little trouble to index things, but it is really worth
doing."
"I think so, too. Well, there's Bob, and I must rush off.
Bob, you're going to have a good dinner tonight! I've just
been investigating!"
Bob had :
Pork Chops Escalloped Potatoes
Baked Apples
Bread Butter
Fresh Pears
Tea
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Baked Apples
4 apples l/2 C-water
8 T-sugar l/2 t-cinnamon
2 T-butter
Select apples of uniform size. Wash and core. Place in a
pan, cover the bottom with water. Fill each cavity witn s'lgar,
With Bettinas Best Recipes 69
a dash of powdered cinnamon and a tiny lump of butter. Bake
for thirty minutes, basting occasionally. Serve around the
platter of pork chops.
Bettina's Time-Guide for Baking Quick Breads
Pop-overs — Thirty minutes in a hot oven.
Baking-powder biscuits — Ten to fifteen minutes in a hot
oven.
Corn bread — Twenty-five to forty minutes in a moderate
oven.
Muffins — Twenty to twenty-five minutes in a moderate oven.
Gingerbread — Thirty to forty-five minutes in a slow oven.
CHAPTER XIX
BOB AND BETTINA ALONE
ffTITHY, Bob, look at the front of your Palm Beach suit!"
* * exclaimed Bettina, after she had greeted Bob at the
door. "What in the world have you been doing ?"
"Pretty bad ; isn't it !" said he, ruefully. "Frank Dixon
brought me home in his car, and he had some sort of engine
trouble. We worked on it for awhile, but couldn't fix it, so he
phoned the garage and I came home on the street car. I must
have rubbed up against some grease. Do you suppose my
clothes are spoiled ?"
"No-o," said Bettina, slowly, "not if I get at them. Let me
see ; what is it that takes out auto grease ? Oh, I know ! Bob,
you go and change your clothes right away while I'm cooking
the meat for dinner. Then I'll doctor these."
"What will you do to them?"
"I'll rub them with lard, and let it stay on them for about
an hour. Then after dinner I'll wash them out in warm water
and soap, and then — well, Bob, I believe they'll be all as good
as new."
"I thank you, Mrs. Bettina."
When Bob returned and Bettina was putting the dinner on
the table, she smiled to herself over a new idea that had popped
into her head.
"Bob, what would you think if I should enter some of my
nut-bread at the state fair ?"
"Well, is that what you've been smiling at all this time? I
think it would be fine. If I were judge you'd get first prize in
70
With Bettinas Best Recipes
a minute ! Say, strikes me this is a pretty good dinner I"
It consisted of :
Ham Mashed Potatoes
Escalloped Onions
Rolls Butter
Dutch Apple Cake Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Ham (Three portions)
2/3 lb. ham 2 T-water
sVipe a slice of ham (one-third of an inch thick) and remove
aie rind. Place in a hot frying-pan. Add the water. Cook
until brown on both sides (about fifteen minutes).
Escalloped Onions (Two portions)
I C-cooked onions 3 T-fresh bread crumbs
y2 C-vegetable white sauce 2 T-butter
Mix the onions with the white sauce and pour into a but-
tered baking dish. Melt the butter and add the fresh bread
crumbs. Place the buttered crumbs on top of the onions.
Brown the mixture in the oven (about fifteen minutes).
Dutch Apple Cake (Two portions)
1 C-floui 1 egg well beaten
Ya t-salt 1/3 C-milk
2 t-baking powder 1 sour apple
1 T-butter 2 T-sugar
y2 t-cinnamon
Mix flour, salt and baking powder. Cut in the butter. Add
the milk and egg. Mix well. Spread one-half an inch thick
in a shallow pan. Pare and cut the apples in lengthwise sec-
tions. Lay in rows in the dough with the sharp edges pressed
lightly into the dough. Mix the sugar and cinnamon and
sprinkle over the top. Bake thirty minutes in a moderate
oven. Serve with lemon sauce.
72 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Lemon Sauce (Two portions)
y2 C-sugar I C-water
J/s t-salt i t-butter
I t-flour 2 T-lemon juice
Mix the sugar, salt and flour well. Add the water slowly.
Cook seven minutes. Add the butter and lemon juice. Serve
hot.
CHAPTER XX
BETTINA ATTENDS A MORNING WEDDING
fSTTOW lovely !" Bettina whispered to Bob after the beau-
<■■ =*- tiful ceremony had taken place in the rustic grape
arbor. "How like Cousin Kate this is ! But I had no idea that
Frances planned to be married out of doors, had you?"
"She told me that they were hoping for fair weather, but
weren't counting on it."
"And this is a regular golden day ; isn't it ! What a time to
remember ! Bob, look at Cousin Kate's flowers ! A natural
altar, without decoration ! Poppies, sweet-peas, nasturtiums,
cosmos, more kinds than I can count ! It's a little earlier than
they usually have weddings, too; isn't nine-thirty early?"
"Yes, but Frances thought that this would be the prettiest
time for it, and you know they aren't at all conventional."
"What are you two gossiping about?" shouted big Cousin
Charles in Bettina's ear : "don't you see enough of each other
at home without avoiding the rest of us at a time like this?
Go and kiss the bride and congratulate the groom as soon as
you can get to them. Fanny wants to see you particularly, Bet-
tina. Breakfast is to be served on the porch; don't forget that
you two are to be at the bride's table !"
The wide porch looked very charming. Each table seated
four, except the one for the bridal party and near relatives,
which was in the center, surrounded by the others. On each
table was a basket of pink sweet-peas and trailing greenery.
Each simple white place-card held a flower or two, slipped
through two parallel cuts across the corner. Frances was
seated at the groom's left, and at her left sat her new brother-
73
74 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
in-law, who was the best man. Next to him was the minister's
wife, then jolly Cousin Charles, the bride's father, then the
groom's mother. At the right of the groom sat Anne, Fanny's
sister, who was maid-of-honor ; and next to her sat the clergy-
man. Then came the bride's mother and the groom's father.
Beyond him sat Bettina, then Bettina's cousin Harry, then Aunt
Nell and Bob. That was all, for there were few near relatives
and Bettina's father and mother were in California.
"Frances looks well; doesn't she?" said Aunt Nell to Bet-
tina. "No showers, no parties or excitement, and you can see
how simple the wedding has been. Cousin Kate is so sensible,
and so is Frances. I can tell you already that the breakfast
menu will be dainty and delicious, but simple."
She was right, for it consisted of :
Watermelon Cubes
(Served in Sherbet Glasses)
Fried Spring Chicken New Potatoes
Creamed Peas
Hot Rolls Butter
Currant Jelly Peach Ice Cream
Bride's Cake Coffee
Nuts Candy
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Fried Chicken
1 2^2-lb. chicken ]/2 t-paprika
4 T-flour 4 T-fat (lard and butter)
2 t-salt 2 T-water
To Prepare the Chicken for Serving and Cooking
Cut the legs from the body, break the joint at the thigh and
cut in two. Cut of! the neck and wings. Break the breastbone
and cut in two lengthwise. Break the back in two pieces length-
wise, if desired. Plunge the pieces into cold water and allow
to drain. Sprinkle each piece with salt and paprika, and roll
in flour. Place the fat in a frying-pan. When very hot add
the chicken. Allow all the pieces to brown thoroughly ; cover
the pan with a lid and add the water, lower the fire and cook
With Bettinas Best Recipes 76
over a moderate fire for thirty minutes. Turn frequently to
prevent scorching.
Gravy (Six portions)
3 T-fat from frying-pan I t-salt
i T-butter y± t-paprika
6 T-flour \y2 C-milk
I t-parsley chopped
Loosen the pieces of chicken which have stuck to the frying-
pan, add the butter, stir constantly until the butter "bubbles,"
add the flour, salt and paprika. Mix thoroughly. Add the milk
slowly, cook for two minutes, add the chopped parsley and
pour the gravy into a gravy bowl for serving.
Bride's Cake (Thirty pieces)
I V2 C-sugar 3 t-baking powder
y2 C-butter % t-cream of tartar
2T/2 C-flour l/2 t»almond extract
% t-salt 1 t-vanilla
2/3 C-milk 4 egg-whites
Cream the butter, add the sugar and continue creaming the
mixture. Mix and sift three times the flour, salt, baking pow-
der and cream of tartar. Add these dry ingredients alternately
with the milk to the first mixture. Add the almond and vanilla
extracts. Beat two minutes. Cut and fold in the egg-whites
which have been stiffly beaten. Pour the cake batter into a
large, round loaf cake pan, having a hole in the center. Bake
forty-five minutes in a moderate oven. When the cake is re-
moved from the oven, allow it to stand in a warm place for
five minutes, then with a spatula and a sharp knife, carefully
loosen the cake from the sides, and turn out onto a cake cooler.
When cool, cover with White Mountain Cream Icing.
Suggestions for Serving the Bride's Cake
The Bride's Cake may be baked in this form and placed in
the center of the table for the central decoration. A tall, slen-
der vase, filled with the flowers used in decorating, may be
placed in the hole in the cake. Place the cake upon a paste-
board box four inches high and one inch wider than the cake.
76 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
This gives space to decorate around the cake. The cake and
box may be placed on a reflector, which gives a very pretty ef-
fect. If cake boxes containing wedding cakes are distributed
among the guests as favors, use the one in the round pan for
centra: decoration and bake others in square pan. Square
pieces may then be cut, wrapped in waxed paper, and placed
in the boxes.
CHAPTER XXI
AFTER THE "TEA"
* f T^\ OESN'T it bore you to think of cooking when you've
■"-^ been out all afternoon?" asked Mrs. Dixon, wearily.
"And today the refreshments were so elaborate and every-
thing was so stiff and tiresome !"
"I usually anticipate feeling this way," said Bettina, "and
plan to have something at home that is already prepared, and
that I can get together without much trouble. Then I put on
a house dress as quickly as I can, for I can't bear to cook in
party clothes. But I'm sure I don't know what I am going to
have for dinner tonight. Bob and I had planned to go down-
town to dinner with some friends, but just before I went out
this afternoon he phoned that the invitation had been with-
drawn because of somebody's illness."
"Goodness !" cried Mrs. Dixon, "what will you do ? Go
downtown yourselves?"
"No; Bob doesn't enjoy that, and neither do I. I can man-
age somehow, for of course there are always things in the
house to get. I'll tell you. I'll phone Bob to bring Mr. Dixon
here, and you can see what an emergency supper is like."
"Oh, I couldn't think of it! You're tired, and it's nearly
six now !"
"Well, what of that? You can help. And I know you're
dreading to get dinner at home. We'll just combine forces."
Bettina went to the telephone and called Bob. "Hello, dear !
Please bring Mr. Dixon home to dinner with you; Charlotte
is going to stay. And if you come in his car, will you stop on
77
78 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
the way and get a watermelon that has been on ice? Be sure
it's cold I"
"And now," she said to Mrs. Dixon, "let me get into a house-
dress, and then for a sight of the refrigerator."
"Oh, what beautiful glazed apples I" exclaimed Mrs. Dixon
ten minutes later.
"They were to have been for breakfast, but I'll have them
for dinner instead. Then there are enough cold boiled potatoes
for creamed potatoes ; and, besides that, we'll have an omelet.
And then I'll stir up some emergency biscuit "
"And you can explain everything that you do !"
"Well, for the omelet — we'll take four good-sized eggs — one
for each of us "
"What else goes in? Milk?
"No, I think that hot water makes a more tender omelet.
Then I'll use a few grains of baking powder to assist in holding
it up, though that isn't necessary. We'll beat the yolks and
whites separately till they're very light. Goodness! There
come the men !"
"Here's your watermelon, Bettina !" called Bob. "A big fel-
low ! Don't forget to save the rind for pickles, will you ? Why,
hello, Mrs. Dixon ! Frank's here !"
The menu that night consisted of :
Omelet Creamed Potatoes
Glazed Apples
Emergency Biscuit Butter
Watermelon
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Omelet (Four portions)
4 eggs Y% t-pepper
4 T-hot water I T-butter
l/2 t-salt a little parsley
Beat the yolks until thick and lemon colored. Add hot water
(one tablespoonful to an tgg), salt and pepper. Beat the
whites till stiff and dry. Cut and fold into the first mixture.
Heat the omelet pan, add the butter, turn the pan so that the
With Bettina's Best Recipes 79
melted butter covers the sides and bottom of the pan. Turn
in the mixture, spread evenly, turn down the fire and allow
the omelet to cook slowly. Turn the pan so that the omelet
will brown evenly. When well puffed and delicately browned
underneath, place the pan on the center shelf in a moderate
oven to finish cooking the top of the omelet. Crease across
center with knife and fold over very carefully. Allow to re-
main a moment in pan. Turn gently with a spatula onto a hot
platter. Garnish with parsley. An omelet is sufficiently cooked
when it is firm to the touch when pressed by the finger.
Creamed Potatoes (Four portions)
2 C-cold diced potatoes r/2 t-salt
I T-chopped parsley % t-paprika
I T-chopped pimento i C-vegetable white sauce
Add the potatoes, sprinkled with salt and pepper, to vegetable
white sauce. Add pimento and parsley. Cook three minutes,
stirring constantly.
Emergency Biscuit
2 C-flour y2 t-salt
4 t-baking powder 3 T-fat (lard and butter)
7/8 C-milk
Mix the dry ingredients and cut in the fat. Add the milk,
mixing with a knife. Drop by spoonfuls on a buttered pan,
placing one inch apart. Bake twelve minutes in a hot oven.
Glazed Apples (Six portions)
6 apples i]/2 C-water
V/2 C-"C" sugar 1 t-butter
Boil the sugar and water six minutes in a deep saucepan.
Do not stir. Pare and core the apples. Place them in the
syrup as soon as pared, to prevent them from discoloring.
Cook until apples are tender. Remove the apples from the
syrup and boil the sugar and water longer if it is not thick
enough. Add the butter to the syrup and pour in and around
the apples. Serve hot or cold. Granulated sugar may be used,
but "C" sugar gives a better flavor.
CHAPTER XXII
BETTINA GIVES A PORCH BREAKFAST
BETTINA had risen early that beautiful July morning, for
she had much to do. Bob had insisted upon helping her,
and at eight, Ruth was coming.
"Such a simple breakfast after all, Bob ! Do you think she'll
like it?"
"Sure she will! If she doesn't I'll disown her! Say, Bet-
tina, I haven't had my breakfast yet, and ten o'clock sounds
far away. May I have just one doughnut with my coffee ?"
"Why, Bobby, Bobby ! Did I forget you? Your Aunt Eliz-
abeth and the whole suffrage cause is on my mind this morn-
ing, but I didn't think even that could make me forget you.
Help yourself to anything you see that looks good !"
The Aunt Elizabeth on Bettina's mind was an aunt of Bob's
who was to be in town between nine and twelve, in conference
with some of the leading suffragists of the city. She wished
to see the bungalow, and at ten o'clock Bettina was giving a
breakfast for her and the women with whom she was to con-
fer. It was with fear and trepidation that Bettina had invited
them, although she declared to herself that she was sure, sure,
sure, of every dish on the menu !
As she arranged the great graceful yellow poppies in the
center of the porch table, set for six, she was feeling somewhat
nervous.
"Bob, you must go now, or you'll be too late for the train.
Take a taxi home, not a street car."
"Taxi! You don't know my Aunt Elizabeth. She'd say,
'Say, young man, if you aren't saving your money any better
80
With Bettina s Best Recipes 81
than this, you ought to be/ And we'd probably end by walk-
ing.
"Hurry, dear."
The train proved to be late, and Ruth and Bettina were ready
to the last detail. While beautiful, distinguished-looking Aunt
Elizabeth was dressing, Bettina was meeting guests at the door.
Before she realized it, she had introduced everybody to the
guest of honor, and was ushering them out to her charming
porch table.
"Oh, Ruth," she said in the kitchen, "isn't my Aunt Eliza-
beth lovely? I'll say 'mine' now, not Bob's. I was in such
a hurry that I forgot to be frightened."
The breakfast consisted of :
oulded Cereal on Bananas
Whipped Cream
Codfish Balls
Egg Souffle
Green Peas
Twin Mountain Muffins
Jelly
Doughnuts
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Codfish Balls (Four portions)
1 C-raw salt fish I egg, well-beaten
2 C-raw potatoes % t-pepper
i t-butter more salt if needed
l/z C-cracker crumbs I T-water
Shred the fish. Pare and quarter potatoes. Place the fish
and potatoes in a stewpan and cover with boiling water. Boil
twenty-five minutes or till the potatoes are soft. Do not boil
too long or they will become soggy. Drain well, mash and
beat until light. Add butter, seasoning and egg. Shape, roll
in crumbs, egg mixed with water, more crumbs, and fry in
deep fat. These may be shaped into flat cakes, rolled in
flour and sauted in hot fat. Garnish with parsley.
Egg Souffle" (Four portions)
or y4
2 T-butter
I t-salt
2 T-flour
a pinch of cayenne
2 C-milk
t-paprika
4 eggs
i C-white sauce
2/3 C-cooked peas
82 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Melt the butter, add the flour and gradually add the
milk. Cook three minutes, add seasoning and the well-beaten
yolks. Fold in the beaten whites and turn into buttered
moulds. Set in a pan of hot water and bake in a slow oven
until firm (about twenty-five minutes). Serve with a white
sauce, highly seasoned, to which has been added one cup oi
cooked peas. Pour the sauce around the souffle.
Potato Doughnuts (Three dozen doughnuts)
I C-mashed potatoes, hot
Yz C-sweet milk
Yz C-sugar
2 T-melted butter
2 eggs
3 C-flour
3 t-baking powder
H t-salt
% t-grated nutmeg
Vz t-powdered cinnamon
Beat the eggs, add the sugar. Mash the potatoes and add
the butter and the milk. Add this mixture to the eggs and
sugar. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinna-
mon sifted together. Roll one-fourth of an inch thick, cut
with a doughnut cutter, and fry in hot deep fat.
CHAPTER XXIII
A PIECE OF NEWS
AS Bettina was putting the finishing touches on her porch
table, set for dinner, and humming a little song as she
tried the effect of some ragged robins in a mist of candy-tuft,
all in a brass bowl, she heard a murmur of voices at her front
door.
"Ill tell just Betty ; no one else must know — yet. But what
if I haven't the courage to tell even her ?"
"Perhaps she'll suspect anyhow !"
"Goodness, Harry ! You make me afraid to go in ! Is my
expression different?"
The answer was not audible to Bettina, though she was sure
that she heard whispers and a little suppressed laughter. Cer-
tainly it had sounded like Alice's voice ! What ? Could Mr.
Harrison be with her ? For a moment Bettina stood stock still,
feeling like an eavesdropper. Then she let out a gasp of amaze-
ment. "Well !" was all she said, and sat down to think. When
the door-bell rang, she could not at first gain the composure
necessary to answer it.
"Why, how are you, Alice? I haven't seen you for ages!
And Mr. Harrison ! Do come in ; you must stay to dinner, for
you're just in time. Bob will be home any minute."
"Oh, we couldn't stay !" answered Alice. "Har — Mr. Har-
rison and I were walking home from town, and when we came
to this house, we couldn't help stopping to say 'hello.' "
Bettina was conscious of a strained feeling in the air, which
made her want to giggle — or shake Alice. After all, she
couldn't help overhearing! And yet she might be mistaken!
83
84 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
She found herself saying — she scarcely knew what — to keep up
the conversation.*
"Do stay ! We have a funny little dinner tonight, but I
believe you'll like it. Bob had been rather over-worked at the
oFiCe lately — and I tried today to think of some of his favorite
dishes for airmen I iwated to have a jolly little meal to take
his mind off his worries. And it would help a lot if he could
see you two people. Do stay! Do you care for blueberry
tarts, Mr. Harrison ? Well, that's to be our dessert !"
"My, that sounds fine !" said Mr. Harrison. "Couldn't we
stay, after all?" he asked, turning to Alice.
"Well, if you really, truly want us," said Alice to Bettina.
"Why, of course I do! I'm delighted to see you! I think
we're fortunate. Mr. Harrison, you are usually so busy that
we scarcely dare invite you !"
"I suppose I ought to be at work today, but I'm taking a
little holiday. I couldn't put my mind on business."
He was actually blushing, Bettina thought. Suddenly she
found Alice's arms around her and Alice's laughing face hid-
den on her shoulder. "Don't, Harry ! Let me be the one to
tell her !"
And so Bob found them, all laughing and talking at once.
"Hurrah !" said he when he heard the news. "The best pos-
sible idea! Is dinner ready, Bettina? Get out some grape
juice and we'll drink to the health and future happiness of
Alice and Harry ! I'm the man that made this match !"
Dinner that night consisted of :
Fish a La Bettina (Four portions)
Fish a la Bettina Rice Cakes
Stuffed Tomato Salad
Rolls Butter
Iced Grape Juice Blueberry Tarts
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Fish a la Bettina (Four portions)
I C-medium white sauce 2 T-chopped pimento
l 1/3 C-cooked fish 2 T-chopped sweet pickle
y* t-paprika
With Bettinas Best Recipes 85
Mix ingredients in order given, heat and serve on wafers.
Rice Cakes (Four portions)
lY C-boiled rice I egg yolk
y2 t-salt 6 T-crumbs
4 T-fat (lard and butter mixed)
Mix the rice and salt with the egg. Shape into flat cakes,
two and a half inches in diameter and one-half an inch thick.
Roll in bread crumbs and saute in hot fat until brown on both
sides. (About eight minutes.) If the egg does not sufficiently
moisten the rice, add one tablespoon of milk.
Stuffed Tomato Salad (Four portions)
4 tomatoes Y t-salt
I C-chopped cabbage Y t-paprika
4 T-salad dressing
Stuff fresh tomatoes with cabbage, seasoned, and mixed with
salad dressing. Arrange the tomatoes on lettuce leaves and
place one tablespoon salad dressing on the top. Add a small
piece of green pepper or a sprig of parsley to the salad
dressing.
Blueberry Tarts (Four portions)
Fill muffin pans with plain pastry. Place two tablespoons of
mixture on each crust. Cover with pastry strips and bake
twenty minutes.
Blueberry Mixture
Yz C-blueberries I T-butter
Y\ C-sugar i T-vinegar
I t-cinnamon
Mix the berries, sugar, butter cut in small pieces, vinegar
and cinnamon. Cook, stirring constantly, over a moderate fire
for three minutes.
CHAPTER XXIV
BETTINA ENTERTAINS HER FATHER AND
MOTHER
ffTT7*E had no such steak as this in California!" declared
» » Bettina's father with satisfaction, as Bob served him
a second helping.
"But then," said Bettina's mother, "did you find anything in
California that you thought equalled anything in your own
state? Father never does," said she, laughing. "He seems to
enjoy traveling because it makes him feel that his own home
is superior to every other place on earth. And it is," she
agreed, looking about her happily. "I can say that after a
summer spent in California, I'm more than thankful to be
back again."
"I was afraid that you and father would be so anxious to
open up the house that you wouldn't agree to come here for
your first meal."
"Of course we're anxious to get home," said Mother, "but
after you wrote Father that if he would come here to dinner
tonight you would have a steak cooked just to suit him, he was
as eager as a boy to get here."
"Well, who wouldn't look forward to it, after a summer spent
in hotels ?" said Father. "And I must say that Bettina's dinner
justifies my eagerness. It's exactly right — steak and all."
"Now for dessert !" said Bob. "This coffee that I've been
making in the percolator is all ready, Bettina !"
For dinner that night they had ■
86
With Bettinas Best Recipes 87
Pan-broiled Sirloin Steak Mashed Potatoes
Carrots
Head Lettuce Thousand Island Dressing
Sliced Bananas Quick Cake
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Pan-Broiled Steak (Six portions)
2 lb. sirloin steak an inch and a y2 t-salt
half thick I T-parsley
I T-butter I T-lemon juice
Wipe the meat with a damp cloth. Have a tin pan sizzling
hot. Place the meat in the pan and cook directly under the
broiling flame. Turn frequently with spoons, as a fork will
pierce the meat and allow the juices to escape. A steak an
inch and a half thick should be cooked from eight to ten min-
utes. Place the steak on a hot platter. Sprinkle with salt,
lemon juice and parsley. Dot with butter. Serve very hot.
Gravy (Six portions)
2 T-drippings from the steak y2 C-water
2 T-flour y2 C-milk
VA t-salt
Pour the drippings from the steak into a pan, add flour and
mix well. Allow the flour to brown, add water and milk very
slowly to the flour and drippings. Add the salt and allow to
cook until the gravy thickens. If there are not two tablespoons
of drippings, add sufficient butter to equal the amount.
Carrots (Six portions)
6 medium-sized carrots y2 t-salt
2 T-butter */\ t-pepper
Wash and scrape the carrots, cut into two-thirds inch cubes
and cook until tender in enough boiling water to cover. (About
fifteen minutes.) Drain, add the butter, salt and pepper.
Heat thoroughly and serve. Carrots may be scraped and
steamed whole or cooked whole in boiling water.
88 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Quick Cake (Sixteen pieces)
i/3 C-butter
I 2/3 C-flour
ilA C-brown sugar
3 t-baking powder
i egg
1 t-cinnamon
y2 C-milk
y2 t-nutmeg
'4 >salt
Q 4atss, tzit C_2S
Cream the butter, aaa tne sugar and* mix well. Add the
egg and .Hilk, salt, flour, bakine powder, cinnamon, nutmeg
and dates. Beat for two minutes. Bake in a well-buttered
loaf cake pan for thirty-five minutes.
Icing
1 egg white £4 C-powdereH sugar
2 T-cold water y2 t-vanilla
Beat the tgg white until very stiff; add water and sugar
gradually. Beat thoroughly and add the flavoring. Beat until
it will stand alone, then spread on cake. More sugar may be
added if necessary.
Thousand Island Salad Dressing (Six portions)
j4 C-olive oil lA t-paprika
juice of half a lemon r t-Worcestershire sauce
juice of half an orange % t-mustard
I t-onion juice 1 T-chili sauce
% t-salt 1 T-green pepper cut fine
1 t-chopped parsley-
Place all the above ingredients in a pint fruit jar, fit a rub-
ber and top tightly on the jar, shake vigorously until well
mixed and creamy, and pour over head lettuce, tomatoes,
asparagus, peas, beans or spinach. Serve as a salad.
CHAPTER XXV
THE BIG SECRET
ff/^OME in, Alice! Now do say that you'll stay to din-
^^ ner, for we can talk afterward."
"Well, if you'll take me out into the kitchen where you are
working. You see, I have all this to learn, and I'm depending
on you to help me."
"Of course I'll help, Alice, but you are so clever about any-
thing that you care to do that I know you'll soon outstrip your
teacher. Tell me first, does anyone know the Big Secret yet?"
"Not a soul but Bettina, Bob, and my family. That is what
I came to talk about."
"Oh, Alice. I'd love to be the one to give the announcement
luncheon, or the breakfast, or whatever you prefer to have it !"
"Would you do it, really ? Bettina, I've been longing to have
you offer, but it is work and trouble, and I didn't want to
suggest it.'x
"Why, Alice, I just enjoy that kind of work! I'd be flat-
tered to be allowed to have it here. Of course, you know that
I can't do anything very elaborate or expensive, but I'm sure
that between us we can think up just the prettiest, cleverest
way of telling it that any prospective bride ever had !"
"Bettina, my faith is in you !"
"When do you plan to be married ?"
"Late in October or early in November, I think. And I'd
prefer not to have it announced for a month. You see, I don't
want to allow time for too many festivities in between."
89
90 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
"Oh, Alice, if you take my advice, you won't have any
showers or parties at all. I know you! If you do allow it,
you'll have more excitement than any bride in this town !"
"Well, Harry advises me not to, but oh, Betty, you know
how it is ! I know so many people, and I do like fun, and
then Mother likes to think of me as the center of things. She's
afraid that when I am married to Harry I'll become as quiet
as he is, and then too, I honestly don't think she'd feel that I
was really married without it. You know sister Lillian had
lots of excitement and more parties crowded into a day
than "
"Yes, and she was so tired that she nearly fainted when she
stood up to be married !"
"That's true, but she liked the fun, anyhow. She says that
a girl can have that kind of fun only once, and she's silly to
deny herself. Well, I'll have a whole month to think it over
in. I've been sitting here all this time, Bettina, trying to de-
cide what it is that you are making — those croquettes, I mean."
"They are potato and green corn croquettes, and Bob is very
fond of them. I made them because I happened to have some
left-over corn. Until I learned this recipe, I didn't know what
to do with the ears of cooked green corn that were left."
"And what is the meat dish ?"
"Well, that is made of left-overs, too, but I think you'll like
it. Creole Lamb, it is called. It is made of a little cold cooked
lamb that was left from last night's dinner. The rhubarb
sauce that I am serving with the dinner was our dessert last
night. But I do have a very good new dessert !"
"New or not, the dinner does sound good. There is Bob,
now, and I'm so glad, for I confess that my appetite is even
larger than usual !"
The menu that night was as follows:
Creole Lamb
Potato and Green Corn Croquettes
Rhubarb Sauce
Bread Butter
Head Lettuce French Dressing
Lemon Pie Cheese
SEPTEMBER.
Apple-tree, apple-tree, crowned with delight,
Give me your fruit for a pie if you will;
Crusty I'll make it, and juicy and light!
Give me your treasure to mate with my skill!
CHAPTER XXVI
RUTH MAKES AN APPLE PIE
t*T'LL tell you, Ruth," said
■*■ Bettina, in answer to some
questions, "you come home with
me now, and make an apple pie
for our dinner! I'll watch and
direct you, and perhaps I can
show you what made the crust
tough on the one you made at
home. Do come. I can't prom-
ise you an elaborate dinner to-
night, for my funds are very
low and I must be careful. But I had planned to make an
apple pie myself. Bob is so fond of it that no matter what else
we may have, an apple pie dinner is a feast to him."
"But goodness, Bettina ! I might spoil it !"
"No, you wouldn't, and I would show you just what to do.
I suspect that you handled the dough too much before and
that was what made the pie seem tough."
"I suppose I did; I was so anxious to have it well mixed."
"Did you use your fingers in mixing in the shortening? I
know that many good cooks do it, but it is really better to use
a knife, with the blade flat. And then roll the pastry out just
as lightly as possible."
"Do you make pastry with lard or butter?"
"I usually make it with an equal amount of each. Lard
makes a more tender crust than butter, and a whiter crust,
but I think butter gives it a better flavor."
93
94 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Bettina and Ruth had reached home by this time, and Bet-
tina brought out the materials for Ruth's pie. "I'll give you
ice-water to moisten the pastry," said she; "it isn't necessary,
but it is really better in the summer time. And while you're
mixing in the shortening with this knife, I'll be cooking some
eggs hard for eggs a la goldenrod which I am going to give
you tonight."
"Eggs a la goldenrod !" exclaimed Ruth, "How good that
does sound !"
"It is a very good luncheon-dish, but I find it also good
for dinner when I'm not having meat. I think it looks appe-
tizing, too."
"I must learn how to make it. You know Father comes home
at noon, and it is hard to think of a variety of luncheon-dishes.
I usually have eggs or cheese in some form or other, but 'eggs
a la goldenrod,' are new to me."
"We also have cottage-cheese tonight," said Bettina. "I
plan to make it about once a week. Ruth, I believe I hear Bob
now! Well, he'll have to wait half an hour or more for his
dinner !"
That night they had :
Eggs a la Goldenrod Potato Cakes
Strained Honey Cottage Cheese
Bread Butter
Apple Pie Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Eggs a la Goldenrod (Four portions)
3 hard-cooked eggs i]/2 C-milk
3 T-butter *^ t-salt
3 T-flour l/s t-pepper
Ys t-parshy
Melt the butter, add the flour, salt and pepper. Mix well.
Add the milk gradually. Cook until a white sauce consistency.
Add chopped egg-whites. Pour this mixture over slices of
toast arranged on a platter. Force the yolks through a strainer
on top of the sauce on the toast. Garnish with parsley and
serve hot.
With Bettina's Best Recipes 95
Potato Cakes (Four portions)
2 C-mashed potatoes I T-lard
i T-butter
Form cold seasoned mashed potato into cakes two inches
in diameter. Pip the cakes lightly into a little flour. Allow
one tablespoon butter and one tablespoon lard to get very hot
in a frying-pan. Put in the cakes, brown on each side, and
serve.
Cottage Cheese (Four portions)
I qt. sour milk % t-paprika
I t-salt i T-cream
Place thick freshly soured milk over a pan of hot water, not
boiling. When the milk is warm and the curds separate from
the whey, strain off the whey in a cheese cloth. Put into a
bowl, add salt, pepper and cream to taste. Stir lightly with a
fork.
Some of Bettina's Pastry Rules
One — All the materials must be cold.
Two — Always roll one way and on one side of the pastry.
Three — Shortening should be handled as little as possible.
Four — Dough should be mixed with a knife and not touched
with the hands.
Five — Shortening should be cut in with a knife.
Six — Cook pastry in a hot oven having the greatest heat
at the bottom so that it may rise before browning. Crust is
done when it slips from the pan.
CHAPTER XXVII
BETTINA MAKES APPLE JELLY
* fTX7'HAT have you been doing?" asked Bob, as he and
* » Bettina sat down to dinner.
"Oh, Bob, I've had the nicest day ! Mother 'phoned me this
morning that Uncle John had brought her several big baskets
of apples from the farm, and that if I cared to come over to
help, we would put them up together, and I might have half.
Well, we made apple jelly, plum and apple jelly, and raspberry
and apple jelly. I had made all these before, and knew how
good they were, but I learned something new from Mother
that has made me feel happy ever since."
"And so you came home, and in your enthusiasm made this
fine dandy peach cobbler for dinner !"
"Bob, that was the very way I took to express my joy !"
"Well, what is this wonderful new apple concoction?"
"Perhaps it isn't new, but it was new to me ! It is an apple
and mint jelly, and I know it will be just the thing to serve
with meat this winter."
"How did you make it? (I hope you are noticing how inter-
ested I'm becoming in all the cooking processes!)"
"Well, I washed and cut into small pieces four pounds of
greening apples. Then I washed and chopped fine one cup
of fresh mint, and added it to the apples. I covered the mix-
ture with water, and cooked it all till the apples were so tender
that they were falling to pieces. I strained it then, and used
three-fourths of a cup of sugar for each cup of juice. I cooked
this till the mixture jellied, and then I added four teaspoons of
96
With Bettinas Best Recipes 97
lemon juice and enough green vegetable color paste to give it a
delicate color."
"Isn't that coloring matter injurious?"
"Oh, no, Bob ! It's exactly as pure as any vegetable, and it
gives things such a pretty color. Why, I use it very often, and
I'm sure that more people would try it if they knew how suc-
cessful it is ! It is such fun to experiment with. Of course, I
never use anything but the vegetable coloring."
"Well, go on with the jelly. What next ?"
"That's all, I think. I just poured it into glasses, and there
it is, waiting for you to help me carry it home from Mother's.
Now, Bob, won't that be good next winter with cold roast beef
or cold roast veal ? I know it will be just the thing to use with
a pork roast !"
"I'm growing very enthusiastic. Sounds fine. But speaking
of cooking, this is a mighty good dinner. I like peach cobbler
as well as any dessert there is."
"I'm glad you like it. But I forgot to tell you, Bob, that I'm
to have all the apples I can use in the fall. Uncle John has
promised them to me. Then Mother says we'll make cider.
Won't that be fine?"
"I should say it will ! Cider and doughnuts and pumpkin
pie ! Makes me long for fall already ! But then, I like green
corn and watermelon and peaches, so I suppose I can wait."
That evening Bettina served :
Sliced Beef Loaf
Sauted Potatoes Creamed Corn
Cinnamon Rolls Butter
Peach Cobbler Cream
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Sauted Potatoes (Two portions)
2 large potatoes cooked l/2 t-salt
2 T-lard J4 t-pepper
98 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Peel cold boiled potatoes. Put two tablespoons of lard in
the frying-pan. When hot, add the potatoes and season well
with salt and pepper. Brown thoroughly on all sides. (They
should cook about ten minutes.)
Creamed Corn (Two portions)
I C-corn cut from the i t-butter
cob i T-milk or cream
y* C-water y2 t-sugar
XA t-salt
Cook the corn and water together very slowly for twenty
minutes, or until the water is all cooked out. (Place on an as-
bestos mat to prevent burning.) Add butter, milk, sugar and
salt. Serve hot.
Cinnamon Rolls (Twelve rolls)
2 T-sugar 54 C-lukewarm water
y* t-salt iy2 C-flour
I C-milk (scalded and 3 T-butter
lukewarm) 4 T-sugar
I yeast cake % C-butter
y2 C-sugar
Mix sugar, salt and scalded milk. When lukewarm, add the
yeast cake dissolved in one-fourth of a cup of lukewarm water.
Add one and a half cups flour. Cover and set in a warm place
to rise. When double in bulk, add the butter (melted), four
tablespoons sugar and more flour (enough to knead). Let
rise, knead and roll into a sheet half an inch thick, spread
with a mixture made by adding melted butter, one and a
fourth cups sugar and the cinnamon. Roll up like a jelly
roll. Cut in slices three- fourths inch thick. Place in a pan one
inch apart, let rise again. Bake in a moderately hot oven
JVenty-five minutes.
Peach Cobbler (Two portions)
1 C-flour 3 good-sized reaches
1 t-baking powder 1/3 C-sugar
% t-salt H t-vanilla
1 T-butter % C-sugar
% C-milk 54 C-water
With Bettinas Best Recipes 99
Cut the butter into the dry ingredients (baking powder, salt
and flour), and add the milk. (The resulting dough should be
of biscuit dough consistency.) Peel and slice the peaches, mix
well with the sugar (one-third cup) and place on the bottom of
a baking dish, (not tin.) Place dough shaped to fit. on the
top of the pei ,hes. Make three holes to allow the steam to
escape. Bake thirty minutes in a moderate oven. Boil the
sugar and water four minutes. When the cobbler has cooked
for twenty minutes, pour the syrup over it and allow to cook
ten minutes more. Cream may be served with the cobbler if
desired.
CHAPTER XXVIII
A SUNDAY DINNER
**\X 7"E have gone 'over home' for so many Sunday dinners
▼ * lately," Bettina had said to her mother, "that I want
you and father to come here tomorrow."
"But, Bettina," her mother protested, "isn't it too much
work for von ? And won't ycu be going to church ?"
"I can't go to church tomorrow, anyhow, for Bob's Uncle
Eric is to be in town all morning ; he leaves at noon. an4 the
Dixons have offered us their car to take him for a drive.
Don't worry, Mother, I'll have a simple dinner — a 'roast beef
dinner,' I believe. I often think that is the very easiest kind."
Sunday morning was so beautiful that Bettina could not bear
to stay indoors. Accordingly, she set the breakfast table on
the porch, even though Uncle Eric protested that it was too
far for her to walk back and forth with the golden brown
waffles she baked for his especial delight. When he and Bob
had eaten two "batches," Uncle Eric insisted that he could
bake them himself for a while. He installed Bettina in her
chair at the table, and forced waffles upon her till she begged
for mercy.
"Gracious !" Bettina exclaimed as she heard the "honk"- of
the Dixons' automobile at the door. "There are the Dixons
already and we have just finished breakfast! Bob, you and
Uncle Eric will have to go on without me, for I must get the
roast in the oven and do the morning's work."
"Well, I learned today to make waffles," said Uncle Eric.
For dinner that day Bettina served :
100
With Bettinas Best Recipes 101
Roast Beef Brown Gravy
Browned Potatoes Baked Squash
Lettuce French Dressing
Lemon Sherbet Devil's Food Cake
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Roast Beef (Eight portions)
$l/2 lb. rump roast of beef 2 t-salt
4 T-flour K C-hot water
Roll the roast in the flour and set on a rack in a dripping-
pan. Place in 1 hot oven and sear over all sides. Sprinkle
the salt over the meat and add the hot water. Cover the meat
and cook in a moderate oven. Baste every fifteen minutes.
Allow fifteen minutes a pound for a rare roast, and twenty
minutes a pound for a well done roast. When properly done,
the outside fat is crisp and brown.
Brown Potatoes (Six portions)
6 potatoes 1 t-salt
Wash and peel the potatoes. Sprinkle with salt. Forty
minutes before the roast is to be done, add the potatoes. Dur-
ing the last ten minutes of cooking the lid may be removed
from the meat and potatoes to allow all to brown nicely.
Browned Gravy (Six portions)
4 T-beef drip- 1 C-water
pmgs
2 T-flour % t-salt
Place four tablespoons of beef drippings in a pan, add
the flour and allow to brown. Add the rest of the drippings,
the water and the salt. Cook two minutes. Serve hot.
Baked Squash (Six portions)
1 squash il/2 t-salt
2 T-butter ^ t-paprika
Wash and wipe the squash, and cut into halves, then quar-
ters. Remove the seeds. Place the pieces of squash, skin
102 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
down, in a baking-dish and bake in a moderate oven until
tender (about one hour). Remove from the oven, mash up
with a fork, and add to each portion one-half a teaspoon of
butter, one-fourth a teaspoon of salt, and one-eighth a teaspoon
of paprika. Reheat in the oven and serve hot.
Devil's Food Cake (Sixteen pieces)
1/3 C-butter 1 t-vanilla
1 C-sugar 2/3 t-soda
1 egg 2 C-flour
2/3 C-sour milk
2 squares of melted chocolate
Cream the butter, add the sugar and continue to cream the
mixture. Add the egg, well beaten, and the chocolate. Mix
well. Add the soda and flour sifted together, and the sour milk
and vanilla. Beat three minutes. Bake in two layer cake pans
prepared with waxed p?per for twenty-five minutes in a mod-
erate oven.
Icing (Sixteen portions)
2 C-"C" sugar 2 egg-whites beaten stiffly
Yz C-water I t-vanilla
Cook the sugar and water together until it clicks wnen a
little is dropped into a cup of cold water. Pour slowly over
the beaten egg whites. Beat vigorously until creamy. Add the
vanilla. Pour on one layer of the cake. Place the upper layer
on top, and pour the rest of the icing upon it. Spread evenly
over the top and over the sides.
CHAPTER XXIX
BOB MAKES PEANUT FUDGE
**T USUALLY complain when it rains — I have that habit —
■*■ but I must confess that I like a rainy evening at home
once in a while," said Bob, as he and Bettina sat down at the
dinner table. "Dinner on a rainy night always seems so cozy."
"Liver and bacon don't constitute a very elaborate dinner,"
said Bettina. "But they taste good for a change. And oh,
Bob, tonight I want you to try a new recipe I heard of — peanut
fudge. It sounds delicious."
"I'm there," said Bob. "I was just thinking it would be a
good candy evening. Then, when the candy is done, we'll
assemble under the new reading lamp and eat it."
"Yes, it'll be a good way to initiate the reading lamp ! Wasn't
it dear of Uncle Eric to give it to us? I kept wondering why
he was so anxious to know just what I planned to do with
the money I won for my nut bread at the fair. I even took
him around and pointed out this particular lamp as the thing
I had been saving for. And here it arrived the day after he
left, as a gift to me! It was dear of Uncle Eric! But now
what on earth shall I do with my fair money ?"
"Don't worry about that, Bettina. Put it in the bank."
"But I'd like to get something as sort of a monument to my
luck. Have you any particular needs, Bob?"
"Not a need in the world ! Except for one more of those
fine fruit gems over there."
That night they had for dinner:
Liver and Bacon Creamed Turnips
Fruit Gems Apple Sauce
Tea
103
104 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Creamed Turnips (Two portions)
1 C-turnip cubes 1 T-flour
1/3 t-salt H t-salt
1 T-butter j/2 C-milk
Peel the turnips. Cut into one-half inch cubes. Soak in
cold water ten minutes. Cook in boiling water in an uncovered
utensil until transparent no longer. Drain and sprinkle with
salt. Melt the butter, add the flour and the one-fourth tea-
spoon salt, blend well, add the milk gradually and cook until
creamy. Add the turnips and serve.
Liver and Bacon (Two portions)
4 slices bacon I t-salt
2/3 lb. liver % t-paprika
3 T-flour
Cover slices of calves' liver cut one-half inch thick with
boiling water. Allow to stand five minutes. Drain and cut
into pieces for serving. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roll
in flour. Have a frying pan very hot. Add sliced bacon.
When the bacon has cooked on each side, pile up on one side of
the pan and add the liver, placing a piece of bacon on top of
each portion of liver, thus preventing the bacon from getting
too well done, and also seasoning the liver. Brown the liver
thoroughly on both sides. (It should be cooked about ten
minutes.) Serve hot.
Fruit Gems (Nine Gems)
2 C-flour Y^ C-milk
3 t-baking powder 1 tgg
3 T-sugar 1 T-melted butter
Yi, t-salt 1/3 C-seeded, chopped
raisins or currants
Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Break the
egg into the milk, stir well, pour into the dry ingredients. Beat
vigorously one minute. Add the melted butter and raisins or
currants. Bake in nine well buttered gem pans for twenty
minutes in a moderate oven.
With Bettina's Best Recipes 105
Peanut Fudge (Six portions)
I C-"C" sugar 2/3 C-milk
1 C-granulated sugar 1 T-butter
x/i t-cream of tartar 1 t-vanilla
2 squares of chocolate x/2 C-broken peanuts
Mix the sugar, cream of tartar, chocolate, milk and butter.
Cook over a moderate fire until the fudge forms a soft ball
when a little is dropped into cold water. Remove from the
fire, allow to stand without stirring for twenty minutes. Beat
vigorously until creamy. Add the vanilla and peanuts. When
very thick remove to a buttered plate. Allow to harden and
cut in squares.
CHAPTER XXX
DINNER AT THE DIXONS
^TS it still as much fun to keep house as it was at first,
-*- Charlotte?" asked Bettina as she and Bob sat down to
dinner with the Dixons.
"Fun?" said Charlotte. "Bettina, look at me! Or better
still, look at Frank ! And the funny part of it all is that Aunt
Isabel thinks our keeping house is a result of her preach-
ments against boarding and hotel living. Why, she quite ap-
proves of me now ! And I'll just keep quiet and let her feel
that she was the one who did it, but all the while in my heart
I'll be remembering that it was the sight of your happiness
that roused my ambition to make a home myself."
"I tell you," said Mr. Dixon, "we can never thank you
enough, Bettina. Now shall I play 'Home Sweet Home' on the
piano? And will you all join in the chorus?"
"Not if you sing, too," said Mrs. Dixon, smiling at her
husband's foolishness. "I've learned a great deal from you,
since I began, Bettina, and not the smallest lesson is that of
having company without dreading it. I don't try to make
things elaborate, just dainty and simple food such as we have
every day. Why, tonight I didn't make a single change for
you and Bob ! And I don't believe I should dread even Aunt
Isabel's sudden arrival now."
"Aunt Isabel is really a good soul, Bettina," said Frank.
"Charlotte has never learned how much worse her bark is than
her bite, and she takes it to heart when Aunt Isabel speaks
her mind. Why, I remember so well the scoldings she used
106
With Bettinas Best Recipes 107
to give me when I was a boy, and the cookies she would man-
age to treat me with afterward! I used to anticipate those
pleasant scoldi js !"
"If a scoldiug always comes before food," said Bob, "Char-
lotte must have given you an extra good one before inviting
us to partake of that delicious-looking chocolate pier*
That evening they had :
Cold Sliced Ham Creamed Potatoes
Tomatoes Stuffed with Rice
Peach Butter
Chocolate Pie
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Tomatoes Stuffed with Rice (Six portions)
6 tomatoes 2 T-grated cheese
y2 C-rice, cooked I t-chopped onion
l/2 C-green pepper, J4 t-salt
chopped i T-butter
Remove a piece one inch in diameter from the stem end of
">ach tomato. Take out the seeds. Fill the shells with the
rice, pepper, cheese, onion and salt, well mixed. Place a small
dot of butter on top of each. Place in a small pan and bake
twenty-five minutes in a moderate oven.
Chocolate Pie Crust (Six portions)
I C-flour 54 t-salt
1/3 C-lard 3 T-ice water
Mix the flour and salt, cut in the lard with a knife, add the
liquid slowly, stirring with the knife. More water may be
needed. Roll out thin, fit onto a tin pan, prick with holes,
and bake in a hot oven until light brown (about seven min-
utes).
Filling (Six portions)
1 C-sugar 2 egg yolks
5 T-flour il/2 squares melted
% t-salt chocolate
2 G-milk Y2 t-vanilla
108 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Mix well the sugar, flour and salt. Add gradually the milk
and beaten egg yolks. Cook in a double boiler fifteen min-
utes. Add the melted chocolate. Cook until thick (about ten
minutes), and add the vanilla. Fill the baked shell, and cover
with meringue. Place in a moderate oven and cook until the
meringue is a delicate brown (about five minutes).
Meringue
2 egg whites 4 T-sugar
Beat the whites of eggs very stiff. Add the sugar. Pile
lightly on the chocolate mixture. Brown in the oven. Choco-
late pie should be served cold.
CHAPTER XX*I
A GOOD-BY LUNCHEON FOR BERNADETTE
f*"DIG success!" was what Bettina's eyes telegraphed to
•*-* Ruth across the purple and white asters in the center
of a long porch table. Ruth was giving a farewell luncheon
for Bernadette, her young cousin, who was leaving that night
for a fashionable New York school. Although there was no
suggestion of it in the dainty dishes the two girls served to the
hungry and vivacious young guests, Ruth was "trying out"
her cooking with all of the stage-fright of the beginner. The
recipes and suggestions were chiefly Bettina's, and the two
had been busy in Ruth's kitchen since early that morning.
Bernadette was a critical young person, although light-hearted
and affectionate, and Ruth felt that she could set her humble
efforts before no sterner judge. Yet all the while, as she
tasted each course in its turn, her mind was running on, "Will
Fred like this? Some day I'll be serving this to Fred!" It
was certainly a satisfaction to feel one's self able to cook a
luncheon acceptable to "the younger society set !"
With each course an enormous motto, supposedly of the
"Don'ts for School Girls' Series," was brought in ceremoni-
ously on a tray and suspended from the chandelier over the
table, until finally five huge, if foolish, "Don'ts" were dangling
there for Bernadette's inspection.
With the last course, Ruth, in the postman's hat, coat and
bag, brought in an endless supply of letters for Bernadette,
to be opened at such times as "When You Meet Your Impos-
sible Room-mate," "When You Feel the First Pangs of Home-
109
110 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
sickness," "When Reprimanded by a Horrid Old Teacher,,:
"When Forced to Mend Your Own Stockings," etc.
Bernadette seized them all delightedly, glanced at the covers
and cried out, half in laughter, half in tears, "Oh, girls, I
simply can't go 'way off there! I'll die!" Her friends fell
upon her with scoldings and hugs, and in the midst of the
noise and clamor, Ruth and Bettina slipped out to laugh and
talk over Ruth's first serious culinary effort.
The menu consisted of :
Iced Cantaloupe Balls
Chicken Croquettes Potatoes in Cream
Green Peppers Stuffed with Corn
Rolls Peach Pickles
Cherry Salad Wafers
Chocolate Cream Pudding
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Chicken Croquettes (Eight croquettes)
V/2 C-cooked chopped i t-parsley chopped fine
chicken lA C-thick white sauce
H t-celery salt H t-salt
I t-lemon mice 2 C-crumbs
4 T-egg, beaten
Mix the chicken, celery salt, lemon juice, parsley, salt and
thick white sauce. Shape into croquettes. Roll in cracker
crumbs, beaten egg and more crumbs. Deep fry. Serve hot.
Green Peppers Stuffed with Corn (Six portions)
I C-corn-pulp, cooked 2 T-bread crumbs
J4 t-salt z/i t-pepper
1 egg-yolk y2 t-sugar
% C-milk 1 T-butter
6 green peppers
Scoop out the contents of the peppers. Mix the corn, salt,
egg yolk, milk, bread crumbs, pepper and sugar. Fill the
peppers. Dot with butter. Place in a pan and bake thirty
minutes in a moderate oven. Cover the bottom of the pan
with water. Baste the peppers frequently.
With Bettinas Best Recipes 111
Cherry Salad (Six portions)
2 C-California y2 C-hazelnuts
cherries 6 lettuce leaves
6 T-salad dressing
Remove the seeds from two cups of California white cher-
ries, and fill with filberts or hazel nuts. Arrange on crisp
lettuce leaves, and serve with salad dressing.
Chocolate Cream Pudding (Six portions)
2 C-milk 1^2 squares of melted
5 T-cornstarch chocolate
Yi C-sugar 3 T-hot water
Yl t-salt 2 egg-whites
i t-vanilla
Mix the cornstarch, sugar and salt. Add cold milk gradu-
ally, mixing well. Melt the chocolate in the hot water, and
add it to the other mixture. Cook in the double boiler ten
minutes, stirring occasionally. Beat three minutes. Add the
stiffly beaten white and the vanilla. Mould, chill and serve.
If the chocolate does not melt in the hot water, cook over the
fire a minute. Whipped cream may be served with the pud-
ding.
CHAPTER XXXII
BETTINA PLANS AN ANNOUNCEMENT
LUNCHEON
** A ^^ so * t^ou&^t, if you were willing, I would have the
J~\ luncheon the last of this week," said Bettina to Alice
one sultry afternoon which they were spending on Bettina's
porch.
"That's dear of you, Bettina. Oh, how queer it will seem
to have everyone know about it ! You must let me help with
the luncheon, of course."
"No, indeed, Alice ! Ruth and I are going to do it all alone,
and the guest of honor is not to lift a finger ! You can advise
us, of course, but you mustn't arrive that day till everything
is ready. I want to tell you about a few plans I've made.
I wish I could consult Harry, too."
"But he won't be at the announcement party!"
"No, but he's the leading man in the drama, and important
even when off the stage. Let's telephone him to come here
to dinner tonight. It is so warm that I have planned only a
lunch, but we can set the porch table and have a jolly informal
time. Do call him up, Alice."
"I'd love to, of course, if you really want us."
"Indeed I do, but we'll have to hurry, for it's after five
now."
"I'll help you," said Alice, after Harry had given his hearty
acceptance. "Let me fix the salad."
"All right, and I'll stir up some little tea cakes. It's better
not to cut those beets too small, Alice ; it makes them soft.
112
With Bettinas Best Recipes 113
I never add them till just before I serve the salad. There,
that's fine! Do you want to fix the parsley to garnish the
ham? Ham looks so much better with parsley that I never
fail to garnish it. I have nasturtiums for the center of the
table, and we'll garnish the salad with them, too."
"It will be a festive little meal. What else can I do while
you're baking the tea cakes?"
"You can make the iced tea, Alice. You do everything so
easily and deftly that I love to watch you. And you have
never cooked at all until lately, have you?"
"No, but I really like it. Wouldn't it be a joke if I should
become very domestic?"
"Well, your fate is pointing in that direction! Time is
swiftly passing, and in a few short weeks — Alice, shall I call
off the announcement luncheon?"
"Oh, no, no, Bettina ! Let fate do her worst ! I'm re-
signed."
Supper that night consisted of :
Cold Sliced Ham Beet Salad
Bread Butter
Tea Cakes Apple Sauce
Iced Tea
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Beet Salad (Four portions)
I C-cold boiled beets cut in i hard-cooked egg, diced
54-inch cubes 1/3 C-diced cucumber
1/3 C-cold boiled potatoes, cubed l/2 t-salt
1/3 C-diced celery x/2 C-salad dressing
Mix the beets, potatoes, celery, tgg, cucumber and salt very
lightly together with a fork. IVIix with salad dressing. Serve
in a bowl garnished with nasturtium leaves and flowers.
"Lightning" Tea Cakes (Twelve cakes)
V/2 C-flour 1/3 t-salt
24 C-granulated or 3 T-butter (melted)
powdered sugar 1 egg
2 t-baking powder l/2 C-milk
l/3 t-vanilla
114 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Sift and mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and
salt. Make a "well" in the center of the mixture and pour in
the melted butter, egg, milk and vanilla. Stir all together and
beat vigorously for two minutes. Fill well buttered muffin
pans half full of the mixture and bake fifteen minutes in a
moderate oven.
CHAPTER XXXIII
RUTH AND BETTINA MAKE PREPARATIONS
ff/^wH, Bettina, aren't the butterflies darling?" exclaimed
V_>/ Ruth, looking once more at the table display of her
work. "And with everything ready to begin in the morning,
won't things be easy for us both ? What shall I do next ?"
"Not a thing, Ruth dear. You've worked too hard all this
afternoon, I'm afraid. Now we're going to sit down to a good
hot dinner, and tell Bob all about our preparations."
"M — m! Something smells good!" said Ruth. "I've been
so busy with all these cunning things that I haven't even
thought of eating. But now that you mention it, I'll admit
that I have a fine healthy appetite."
"Well, dinner is almost ready, and Bob will be here any
minute. It's all in the oven except the corn : meat loaf, sweet
potatoes and apricot cobbler."
"Oh, how good it sounds ! More sensible than all our fluffy
dishes for the announcement luncheon. But then, I do love
fluffy things. I'm sure Alice will like it, and all the others,
too. Makes me 'most wish I'd kept my engagement a secret,
and announced it with ceremony as Alice is doing. But I
couldn't, somehow."
"No, you couldn't, Ruth, and neither could Fred. He'd give
it away if you didn't. So I guess there's no use wishing you
1iad kept it. Anyhow, you just suit me as you are. You've
been such a dear to help with the luncheon ! Goodness, there's
Bob now !"
The dinner consisted of:
115
116 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Beef Loaf Sweet Potatoes
Corn on the Cob
Bread Butter
Apricot Cobbler
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Beef Loaf (Three portions)
I lb. beef ground x/2 t-salt
% lb. salt pork, ground % t-pepper
54 t-onion salt % C-tomato
1/3 C-fresh bread crumbs J4 C-water
1 egg 1 T-fat drippings
Mix the ground beef and salt pork, add the onion salt, fresh
crumbs, egg, salt, pepper and tomato. Mix thoroughly. Shape
into a loaf which will fit into a small buttered pan. Add the
water and pour fat drippings over the top. (Bacon fat is
good.) Cover the pan, and allow to cook in the oven one-
half hour. Uncover the loaf, basting frequently, and brown it.
This will take fifteen or twenty minutes. Serve hot. More
water may be added while cooking if necessary.
Sweet Potatoes (Three portions)
3 potatoes H t-salt
Peel the potatoes, salt them with one-fourth a teaspoon of
salt in each potato, and place them in the pan with the meat.
This gives the potatoes a good flavor.
Bettina's Apricot Cobbler (Three portions)
1 C-cooked and sweetened 1/3 t-salt
apricots 2 T-butter
1 T-flour 1/3 C-milk
y2 t-cinnamon 1/3 C-sugar
1 C-flour H C-water
2 t-baking powder y2 t-vanilla
Mix the apricots, one tablespoon flour and cinnamon. Mix
and sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in the
butter with a knife. Add the milk until a soft dough is formed.
Place the apricot mixture in a baking-dish and the dough on
top of the apricots. Cook the water and sugar together for
three minutes. Add the vanilla. When the cobbler has baked
fifteen minutes pour syrup over it. Bake ten minutes more in
a moderate oven.
CHAPTER XXXIV
A RAINBOW ANNOUNCEMENT LUNCHEON
ffy^vH, Bettina, how lovely!" cried the ten guests in a
V^/ chorus, as Ruth and Bettina ushered them into the
softly lighted dining-room. Not one had had even a glimpse
of the luncheon table before, for Ruth had been entertaining
them on the porch while Bettina put on the finishing touches.
It all seemed a burst of soft rainbow colors. "What is it?"
cried someone. "How did you ever get the rainbow effect?"
"Let's not examine it too closely," said Bettina. "You know
a rainbow after all is nothing but drops of water with the sun
shining through, and maybe my rainbow table has a prosy
explanation, too."
From the low mass of variegated garden flowers in the
center — pink, yellow, lavender, orange, blue, and as many oth-
ers as the girls could find — ran strips of soft tulle in rainbow
colors. The strips were attached at the outer end to the dainty
butterflies which perched lightly on the tulle covered candy
cups. These candy cups held pink, lavender and green Jordan
almond candies. More butterflies in all sizes and colors hov-
ered among the flowers. Upon the plain white name cards,
little butterflies had been outlined in black and decorated in
butterfly colors. Ruth and Bettina had cut with the scissors
around this outline and then, when it had been cut almost away,
had folded back the butterfly so that it stood up on the card,
as ready for flight as its brothers and sisters.
"Aren't they cunning?" exclaimed Barbara, taking her but-
terfly from her favor cup. "Goodness, it's attached to some-
117
118 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
thing !" Pulling gently by the rainbow tulle to which the but-
terfly had been pasted, she drew forth from the greenery in
the center a little golden bag. It was in reality a little fat bag
of soft yellow silk tied with gold cord and holding something
that, seen through the mesh, appeared to be — gold ?
The other girls, in great excitement, drew forth their little
bags.
"Rice !" declared Mary, "though it looks yellow !"
"It's the bag of gold at the foot of the rainbow !" exclaimed
Ruth, with flushed cheeks. "Discovered by "
"Harry Harrison and Alice!" cried the girls, laughing al-
most hysterically. For one small card which read, "Discov-
ered by" and the two names, in gold letters, was tied to the
little bag by the gold cord.
"Alice, how did you ever manage to keep it a secret ?" asked
someone.
"Well, it would have been harder if you had all known
Harry, but you see, we haven't been with the crowd much
lately, have we? Now admit it! You haven't even missed
me!"
"But you're more of a butterfly than any of the rest of us.
And the limits of the old crowd don't always bound your
flutterings."
"I'm not a butterfly any more," said Alice. "I suppose I'll
have a butterfly wedding (Harry will detest it, but he'll have
to give in that once), but after t^at x expect to be as domestic
is Bettina here, though not such a success at it, probably.
Aren't these orange baskets the prettiest things ?"
The girls, in their excitement, had almost forgotten to eat,
but now they looked down at their plates. Fruit cups in orange
baskets, with handles of millinery wire twisted with pink,
green, yellow and violet tulle, added to the rainbow effect.
The baskets were placed on paper doilies on tea plates, and
were artistically lined with mint leaves.
"It looks too pretty to eat," said Dorothy.
"Ruth will feel hurt if you don't like it, but I know you
will," said Bettina. "She prepared this course, and made most
of the table decorations, too."
With Bettina s Best Recipes 119
"And didn't you wish that you were announcing something
yourself, Ruth?" asked Mary. "Although I don't believe the
crowd could stand two such surprises ! We've known Fred
and you so long that your engagement seems the natural thing,
but when a perfectly strange man like Mr. Harrison happens
by, and helps himself to one of our number — well, it certainly
takes my breath away ! Where did you first meet him, Alice ?
Was it love at first sight ?"
"Love at first sight? Bob introduced us — here, in this very
house, and I thought — well — I thought Harry the most dis-
agreeably serious man I'd ever had the misfortune to meet!
And he thought me the most disagreeably frivolous girl he
had ever seen! So our feud began, and of course we had to
see each other to fight it out !"
"And then comes Bettina's rainbow luncheon to show us
how serious the feud proved to be," laughed Barbara. "What ?
More courses, Bettina ? This is a beautiful luncheon ! I won-
der who'll be the next to discover the treasure at the foot of the
rainbow ?"
The menu consisted of :
Fruit Cups in Orange Baskets
Cream of Celery Soup Whipped Cream
Salt Wafers
Tuna Moulds Egg Sauce
Potatoes a la Bettina
Green Peppers Stuffed with Creamed Cauliflower
Rolls Butter
Head Lettuce, Russian Dressing
Thin Sandwiches in Fancy Shapes
Marshmallow Cream
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Tuna Loaf (Eight portions)
V/t C-tuna I t-lemon juice
i C-fresh bread crumbs I t-chopped green pepper
2 eggs (just the yolks may I t-salt
be used) % t-paprika
120 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly, picking the fish
apart with a silver fork. Mould firmly in a loaf. Roll in
flour, and place in a buttered bread pan. Dot with butter, and
bake thirty minutes in a moderate oven. This same recipe
may be distributed among fancy individual moulds, filled half
full. Arrange a star-shaped piece of pimento, green pepper,
beet or egg in the bottom of a fancy aluminum mould. An
attractive design may be made by putting the star cut from
any vegetable with radiating pieces of any other kind of vege-
table of a different color. Place the design firmly on the
fish. Set the moulds in a pan of hot water and bake until the
mixture is firmly set. (About thirty minutes.) Remove from
the oven, let moulds stand three minutes, and then, with the
assistance of a knife, slip them from the pan, unmould all the
moulds in one flat pan, and keep them hot until needed. Do
not forget that the mould must be thoroughly buttered before
using. When ready to serve, make a regular vegetab1e white
sauce (two T-butter, 2 T-fiour, 1 C-milk, % t-salt). When
ready to serve and while steaming hot, add one beaten egg
yoke. The hot sauce will cook the tgg. Pour around the
mould.
CHAPTER XXXV
AN EARLY CALLER
BOB had scarcely left the house the next morning when
Bettina was called to the door. "I couldn't resist com-
ing !" said Alice. "The announcement party was lovely, and I
must thank you for doing it. Aren't you tired to pieces ?"
"No, Ruth helped me a great deal, and by the time Bob
came home to dinner, the luncheon dishes were washed and
put away and the house was in apple-pie order."
"Everything tasted delicious, Bettina. Maybe it sounds al-
together too practical for my own announcement party, but
I'm armed with a pencil and a notebook, and I do want to
get some of those recipes of yours !"
"You're welcome to them all, Alice, of course. They are
all recipes that I have used over and over again, and I'm
sure of them."
"What kind of soup was it? Celery? I thought so. Wasn't
it hard to prepare?"
"Why, Alice, it was canned celery soup, diluted with hot
milk. Then I added a teaspoonful of chopped parsley and a
teaspoonful of chopped red pepper."
"But surely it had whipped cream in it, Bettina!"
"Yes, I put a teaspoonful of whipped cream in the bottom
of the bouillon cup and poured the hot soup on it, so that it
would be well mixed."
"Well, that accounts for it ; I thought it must be made with
whipped cream. Oh, Bettina, everything was so pretty ! The
tulle bows on the baskets holdine the wafers and the rolls —
121
122 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
and the butterflies perched on them ! How did you ever think
of it?"
"Well, butterflies are a happy choice for decorations ! They
can be put anywhere, and they are easy to make — at least
Ruth says so."
"You use paper doilies a great deal, ciont you ? Aren't they
expensive?"
"Expensive ? Well, I wish you'd price them ! They are so
inexpensive that I like to use them even for a very informal
meal ; they add such a dainty touch, I think."
"I must write down the recipes for your tuna loaf, and green
peppers stuffed with cauliflower, and Russian dressing — and
oh, that wonderful kind of rainbow dessert! Bettina, what
was that dessert?"
"Marshmallow cream made with gelatine and cream and
marshmallows and whites of eggs. I puzzled a long time over
\ real 'rainbow' dessert, and finally decided on marshmallow
cream with a few variations. Come into the kitchen, where
I keep my card index, and I'll get all the recipes for you."
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Potato Balls (Four portions)
4 potatoes i t-salt
i C-crumbs 2 T-egg
Boil potatoes of uniform size with the skins on. When cold,
©eel, roll in crumbs, to which salt has been added and then the
beaten egg and crumbs. Deep fry in very hot fat.
Green Peppers Stuffed with Cauliflower (Four portions)
4 green peppers 1 C-vegetable sauce
1 C-cooked cauliflower 2 T-crumbs
1 T-butter, melted
Cut a thin slice from the stem end of each large green pepper
find remove the seeds. Parboil ten minutes, and fill with
creamed cauliflower and buttered crumbs. Bake until the skins
are tender, basting occasionally with butter and water.
With Bettina's Best Recipes 123
Marshmallow Cream (Four portions)
2 t-granulated gelatin i t-lemon extract
4 T-cold milk % lb. marshmallows, cut in
2/3 C-sugar one-fourth cubes
I 1/3 C-double cream 4 toasted marshmallows
I t-vanilla extract 4 pecans
1 egg white well beaten 4 almonds
Soften the gelatin in milk for five minutes, and dissolve by
setting the dish in boiling water. Add the sugar. Allow the
mixture to cool. When it begins to congeal, add the flavor-
ings. Beat in the whipped cream, and continue beating until
it is firm. Fold in the egg-white and the marshmallows cut
in cubes. When the mixture begins to set, pile lightly in
sherbet cups. Place one-half of a toasted marshmallow on
the top, and arrange pecan meats and candied cherries in a
conventional design. Set aside one hour to cool and harden.
Bettina colored the mixture with vegetable coloring of a
very delicate green. Then on the top she placed a teaspoon ful
of white whipped cream, then the toasted marshmallow and
the different fruits. Bettina browned the marshmallows
quickly in the oven, after she had cut them the desired shape.
She used cups with handles, and decorated them with fluffy
bows of variegated tulles. To make these bows, she took strips
of each color desire^ one inch wide, tied them together, and
"fluffed them out." She might have gained a real rainbow
effect by dividing the marshmallow cream (when mixed, but
not yet firm) into three bowls, and coloring them green, laven-
der and pink, with delicate vegetable colors. Then, having
beaten in the whipped cream, she might have placed in each
sherbet cup three layers, pink, lavender and green. Then, on
the top, she might have placed the whipped cream.
OCTOBER.
Oh, hazy month of glowing trees,
And colors rich to charm our eyes!
Yet — not less fair than all of these
Are Mother's fragrant pumpkin pies!
CHAPTER XXXVI
A KITCHEN SHOWER FOR ALICE
"D
ID you want me for
something, Mary ?" asked
Alice at the door. "Mother said
you had telephoned."
"Come in ! Come in !" cried
Iten girls at once, while Bettina
whispered to Ruth : "Thank
goodness, she's come ! The muf-
fins are all but done !"
What in the world!" said
Alice.
"A party for you!"
"And I'm wearing my old suit!"
"We caught you this time, but never mind. Come in, and
take off your things."
As soon as Alice reappeared in the living room, a small table
was drawn up before the open fire. Two girls appeared, wear-
ing gingham aprons and carrying overflowing market baskets.
"This is a kitchen ishower for you, Alice," Ruth explained
somewhat ceremoniously. "But if you are willing, we will use
the utensils in serving the luncheon and afterwards present
them to you. May we unpack the baskets?"
"Do," said Alice, laughing.
From the larger basket, Ruth removed twelve white enam-
elled plates of different sizes (suitable for holding supplies in
the refrigerator), and twelve cross-barred tea towels. The
125
126 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
latter she passed around to be used as napkins, and Mary dis-
tributed the plates. On the small serving table before the fire,
a white muslin table cover was placed. As she unfolded it,
Ruth read from the attached card :
"If breakfast you should chance to eat
Upon the kitchen table —
I'll make it dainty, fair and neat
So far as I am able."
When the steel forks and spoons of various sizes were taken
out and passed around, two glass measuring cups were found
to hold loaf sugar wrapped in frilled paper. Upon one of
these Ruth read :
"Please eat us all, but let your sweet
Sweet hours be duly treasured,
For we belie the worldly eye —
True sweetness can't be measured."
A glass rolling-pin filled with stick candy came next, and
its sentiments read, and meanwhile the girls had begun to read
aloud the advice pinned upon the tea-towels, such as :
"No matter what his whims and wishes —
Just tell him he must wipe the dishes !"
and
"But if he breaks a cup or plate,
Just throw the pieces at him straight."
"What vindictive dish-towels!" said Alice. "They're not a
bit sentimental !"
When the contents had been removed and all the verses read,
the large basket was presented to Alice, who read from its
handle :
With Bettinas Best Recipes 127
"To market, to market, to buy your supplies !
You'll go there in person, if careful and wise."
"I will, Mr. Basket, with you over my arm!" answered
Alice.
Meanwhile the girls had carried in the salad in an earthen-
ware mixing-bowl, the muffins heaped high in a small basket
with a dainty dustcloth over them, the coffee in a large enam-
elled pitcher, and the "molasses puffs" wrapped in frilled
paper in a basket suitable for holding supplies. "Bettina's
apples" were arranged in two flat enamelled pans. All the food
was served informally from the small table, and the merriment
grew as the luncheon progressed.
"I wish that all the meals Harry and I have together might
be as jolly as this one ! I'm sure I should be glad to eat always
from kitchen dishes, if that is what makes the fun," said
Alice.
At the kitchen shower, the luncheon was as follows :
Bettina's Potato Salad Bettina's Spiced Beets
Twin Mountain Muffins Currant Jelly-
Molasses Puffs Bettina's Apples
Coffee Stick Candy
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Bettina's Potato Salad (Twelve portions)
3 C-cold boiled potatoes, diced 3 T-diced pimento
1 C-diced celery 2 t-salt
l/2 C-diced hard-cooked egg 1 T-chopped onion
54 C-diced sweet pickles 1 C-salad dressing
12 lettuce leaves
Mix all the ingredients in the order named. Serve the salad
very cold on crisp lettuce leaves.
Bettina's Spiced Beets (Twelve portions)
5 large, cooked beets, 1 T-"C" sugar
sliced 6 cloves
y2 C-vinegar 1 t-salt
Vs t-pepper
Heat the vinegar, add the cloves, sugar, salt and pepper.
128 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Pour over the beets, cut in one-third inch slices. Allow to stand
one hour before serving.
Molasses Puffs (Twelve portions)
Y$ C-molasses I egg, well beaten
Y$ C-sugar 2 t-ginger
1/2 C-hot water 1 t-cinnamon
1/3 C-butter and lard 2 t-soda
(melted) 3 C-flour
Mix the molasses and sugar. Add the hot water and fat.
Beat well, add the egg and mix thoroughly. Sift the ginger,
cinnamon, flour and soda together, and add to the rest of the
ingredients, mixing well. Fill well-buttered muffin pans three-
fourths full. Bake in a moderate oven for twenty-five min-
utes. Ice with "C" sugar icing.
Icing
2 egg-whites beaten 2 C-"C" sugar
stiffly
Cook the sugar and water together until it "clicks" when
a little is dropped into cold water. Pour the syrup slowly
over the stiffly beaten egg whites. Beat vigorously until cool
and creamy. Add the vanilla and spread on the cakes. If the
icing gets hard before it is cool, add two tablespoons of water
and continue beating. The secret of good icing is steady,
constant beating.
Bettina's Apples (Twelve portions)
12 apples Y\ t-cinnamon
3 C-"C" sugar y2 t-vanilla
2 C-water 18 marshmallows
1 T-butter
Wash, peel and core the apples: Place in a broad flat pan
in which the sugar and water have been thoroughly mixed.
Cook the apples, turning often until tender, remove from the
syrup and place in a serving dish. Fill the center with one-
half a marshmallow. Add the cinnamon and butter to the
syrup and cook five minutes or until it thickens. Pour over
and around the apples. Decorate with a marshmallow cut
into fourths. Serve warm.
CHAPTER XXXVII
JUST THE TWO OF THEM
ffTT seems good to be alone this evening, doesn't it, Bet-
-*- tina?" said Bob, as they sat down to dinner. "Or are
you growing so accustomed to gaiety lately that a dinner for
two is a bore?"
"Bob!" said Bettina reproachfully. "If I thought you really
believed that I was ever bored by a dinner for the two of
us, — well, I'd never be in a wedding party again ! Alice likes
excitement, and I suppose that next week will be very gay, but
after the wedding I hope that you and I can have a quiet
winter, with just invitations enough to keep us from becoming
too stupid."
"But tell me what the wedding will be like. Is it all planned
down to the last detail? I suppose it is, although Harry
doesn't seem to have any idea what it is to be."
"Poor Harry, he seems to be left out of most of the showers
and parties so far."
"Don't pity him; he wouldn't go if he could. I'm just
wondering what they'll do after the wedding. Will Alice
go and Harry stay at home ? Or, will he be obliging and force
himself to go, too?"
"I don't know, I'm sure. Alice is so full of life that I don't
see how she can settle down and never go anywhere, as Harry
would have her. But time will tell. Perhaps they'll compro-
mise. Meanwhile, we must plan some sort of a shower or
prenuptial party that Harry can enjoy, too. One with the men
included, 1 mean. Of course, I know he hates parties, but I
129
130 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
think he would really like a very jolly informal one with just
a few friends I"
The dinner for two consisted of:
Cold Sliced Lamb Baked Potatoes
Creamed Carrots and Peas
Bread Butter
Apple Dumplings
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Creamed Carrots and Peas (Three portions)
y2 C-cooked, diced y2 t-salt
carrots 1 T-butter
l/2 C-peas 1 T-flour
y2 C-milk
Melt the butfter, add the flour and salt, gradually add the
milk. Cook two minutes. Add the peas and carrots. Serve
very hot.
Apple Dumpling (Three portions)
y2 C-flour 1 T-lard
1 t-baking powder 2 T-milk
% t-salt 2 apples
4 T-sugar y2 t-cinnamon
Mix the flour, baking-powder and salt, cut in the lard with
a knife. Add the liquid, mixing to a soft dough. Roll on a
v/ell floured board to one-fourth of an inch in thickness.
Wash, pare and quarter the apples. Sprinkle with sugar and
cinnamon. Cut the dough in five inch squares ; place two
quarters of apple in the center of a square ; moisten the edges
of the dough with water and bring the four corners together
around the apple. Place in a tin pan and bake in a moderate
oven until the apples are soft. (About thirty minutes.) Serve
warm with cream.
CHAPTER XXXVIII
A LUNCHEON IN THE COUNTRY
ff/^H, Charlotte, I've just come from the loveliest lunch-
_\J eon," said Bettina, coming face to face with Mrs.
Dixon in front of her own home.
"You have? Another for Alice?"
"No, this was in the country — on the interurban, at Cousin
Kate's. Frances, her daughter, who was married last spring,
has come home on a visit, and Cousin Kate was entertaining
for her."
"Tell me about it !"
"Oh, it was just an informal luncheon, but I couldn't help
thinking how delicious everything was, and at the same time
inexpensive. In fact, I wrote down several of Cousin Kate's
recipes after the guests had gone, and I'm sure that there
aren't many such inexpensive luncheons that are also so good."
"You must let me have some of the recipes."
"Of course I will. Come in now, and copy them."
"I can't possibly, Bettina. As it is, I'm afraid that Frank
will be home before I am. It's almost six o'clock now."
"Is it? Then I must hurry in and start dinner; I want to
make some muffins. I hate to have Bob eat a cold dinner
just because I've been out in the afternoon ; in fact, I usually
spend more time than usual in the morning fixing some dessert
that he especially likes, if I'm to be out in the afternoon.
Good-bye, Charlotte !"
"Good-bye, dear !"
The luncheon menu was as follows :
131
132 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Oyster Cocktail in Pepper Cases
Cream of Celery Soup Croutons
Cheese Timbales Creamed Peas
Baked Apples
Baking-Powder Biscuit
Green Bean Salad Salted Wafers
Lemon Sherbet Devil's Food White Icing
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
'K~7i measurements are lever)
Oyster Cocktail in Pepper Cases (Six portions)
6 green peppers I T-lemon juice
i pint oysters I T-horseradish
5 T-tomato catsup y2 t-salt
l/2 t-tabasco sauce
Cut the stem end from the sweet green peppers. Remove
the seeds and allow to stand in iced water. Pick over the
oysters to remove any shells, and surround with chipped ice
until ready to serve. Mix the catsup, lemon juice, horse
radish, salt and tobasco sauce. Fill each pepper with four
oysters, and put on tablespoon of the mixture on the top.
Serve very cold.
Cheese Timbales (Six portions)
i T-butter ^ t-paprika
i T-flour % C-fresh, soft bread crumbs
y C-milk J4 C-grated American cheese
y2 t-salt i egg
Melt the butter, add the flour, salt and paprika. Mix well,
gradually add the milk, cheese and bread crumbs. Cook three
minutes, and then stir in the egg, well beaten. Butter six
timbale moulds well. Place the cups in a pan of hot water
and cook fifteen minutes in a moderate oven. Allow to stand
three minutes, and remove from the moulds. Serve hot with
creamed peas.
Bettina's Green String Bean Salad (Six portions)
i C-cooked green beans i t-salt
% C-cut celery % t-paprika
K C-pimento, cut fine x/2 C-salad dressing
i hard-cooked egg, diced 6 pieces of lettuce
With Bettinas Best Recipes 133
Mix thoroughly the beans, celery, pimento, egg, salt and
paprika. Add the salad dressing and serve on a piece of crisp
lettuce.
Devil's Food Cake (Twenty-four pieces)
2 C-brown sugar 3 squares chocolate
1 C-milk 2 C-flour
*4 C-butter 1 t-soda
2 eggs 1 t-vanilla
Cream the butter, add one cup sugar. Mix egg yolks, the
other cup sugar, one-half cup milk and chocolate; cook two
minutes, stirring constantly. When cool, add this to the first
mixture. Add the rest of the milk, vanilla, the flour and soda
sifted together. Beat two minutes. Add stiffly beaten egg
whites. Fill two tin pans prepared with waxed paper, bake
in a moderate oven twenty-five minutes. When cool, ice with
white icing.
CHAPTER XXXIX
A "PAIR SHOWER" FOR ALICE
WHEN Bettina called the girls into the dining-room after
several hours spent in hemming dish towels for Alice,
they exclaimed that the time had passed so quickly. The
table was set for twelve, and the chair at the right of the
hostess was gaily decorated with white ribbon and white paper
flowers.
"Oh, for me?" cried Alice. "How important I feel!,,
As soon as the girls were seated, Ruth rose and placed be-
fore the guest of honor a large wicker basket heaped high
with packages of all shapes and sizes, each wrapped in white
tissue paper and tied with white ribbon. A card hung from
the handle of the basket. "I'll read it aloud !" laughed Alice.
"Dear Alice, we have tried to choose
Some gifts for you that come by twos.
A few, perhaps, you'll often use,
While some may comfort and amuse,
If you should chance to get the blues,
When household cares your mind confuse.
"This basket, which our blessing bears,
Besides the gifts that come in pairs,
Our friendship and our love declares.
'Twill share your troubles and your cares
And hold the hose that Harry wears.
So keep them free from holes and tears."
"Goodness !" cried Alice. "The thought of my future cares
134
With Bettina s Best Recipes 135
frightens me ! But now I must open all the packages !"
She discovered a salt and pepper shaker, a pair of guest
towels, a pair of hose, a sugar bowl and a creamer, and many
other gifts in pairs. It was a long time before the girls could
calm down sufficiently to eat the luncheon that Bettina, with
Ruth's assistance, set before them.
Bettina served:
Bettina's Tuna Salad
Date Bread Sandwiches Salted Peanuts
Maple Ice Cream White Cake with Maple Icing
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Tuna Salad (Twelve portions)
2 C-tuna fish 4 T-pimento, cut fine
2 C-diced celery 2 t-salt
3 hard-cooked eggs, diced J/2 t-paprika
3 T-green pepper, chopped fine 1 T-lemon juice
4 T-sweet pickle, chopped fine 1 C-salad dressing
Mix the tuna, celery, eggs, sweet pickle, pepper, salt and
paprika with a silver fork. (Care should always be taken not
to mash salads.) Add the salad dressing; more than a cup
may be necessary. Keep very cold, and serve attractively on
a lettuce leaf.
Salad Dressing (Twelve portions)
4 egg-yolks 1 t-mustard
]/2 C-vinegar 4 T-sugar
l/2 C-water Y\ t-paprika
1 t-salt 2 T-flour
Beat the tgg yolks, add the vinegar. Mix the salt, mustard,
sugar, paprika and flour thoroughly. Slowly add the water,
taking care not to let the mixture get lumpy. Pour into the
yolks and vinegar. Cook slowly, stirring constantly until thick
and creamy. Thin with sour cream or whipped cream.
Date Bread (Eighteen Sandwiches)
1 C-graham flour 2 t-salt
2 C-white flour 1/3 pound of dates, cut fine
3 t-baking powder il/2 C-milk
1/3 C-"C" sugar 1 egg
136 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Mix the flour, baking-powder, sugar, salt and dates ground
fine. Beat the egg with a fork, and add the milk. Pour
slowly into the dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly and pour
into two well-buttered bread pans. Allow to stand fifteen
minutes and bake forty minutes in a moderate oven. When
cold, cut very thin and spread with butter for sandwiches.
Date bread is better for sandwiches when one day old.
Maple Icing
ll/2 C-maple sugar 2/3 C-milk
1/4 C-granulated sugar 1 t-butter
% t-cream of tartar
Cook all the ingredients together until a soft ball is formed
when a little is dropped into cold water. Beat until creamy
enough to pour on the cake.
Salted Peanuts (Twelve portions)
2/3 lb. peanuts (shelled) 4 T-olive oil
2 t-salt
Cover the peanuts with boiling water; allow to stand for
fifteen minutes. Place one-third of the amount in a strainer
(allowing remainder to stay in water) and remove the skins.
Prepare all the peanuts the same way. Place two tablespoons
of oil in the frying pan, when hot add the peanuts; stir con-
stantly with a fork and cook over a moderate fire fifteen min-
utes. When brown remove the nuts, add another tablespoon
of oil and another third of the peanuts, continue until all the
nuts are cooked. Add the salt. Lard may be used in place
of oil, but the latter makes the nuts taste and brown better.
CHAPTER XL
BOB MAKES POPCORN BALLS
f f /^\H, I forgot to tell you, Bettina," said Bob at the dinner
^-^ table, "the Dixons are coming over this evening.
Frank asked me if we would be at home."
"I'm so glad they're coming," said Bettina. "I haven't seen
Charlotte for several weeks; I have been so busy with the
affairs we girls have been giving for Alice. But I wish I had
known this afternoon that they were coming. I'd like to
celebrate with a little supper, but I haven't a single thing in
the house that is suitable."
•There's the cider that Uncle John brought us," suggested
Bob.
"Yes," said Bettina, "we might have cider. But what else ?"
"I'll tell you," said Bob, "I'll make some popcorn balls. I've
made them before, and I know exactly how."
"I'll help," said Bettina.
"No, I won't need you at all ; I'm the chef."
"Well, Bobbie, at least you'll let me look on. May I be
washing the dishes at the same time?"
"Yes, I'll permit that. These are going to be champion
popcorn balls, I can tell you, Bettina — as big as pumpkins!"
"We'll serve them in that large flat wicker basket, and I'm
sure they'll look and taste delicious. But we must hurry,
Bob; it's after seven now!"
For dinner that night they had:
Broiled Ham Mashed Potatoes
Chili Sauce Creamed Onions Hot Scones
Prune Blanc Mange with Cream
137
138 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Broiled Ham (Four portions)
i lb. ham 2 C-milk
Soak a one-half inch slice of ham in one cup of lukewarm
milk for half an hour. Drain and wipe dry. Place in a hot
tin pan and cook for five minutes directly under the flame,
turning frequently to prevent burning.
Scones (Fourteen scones)
2 C-flour 1 egg
4 t-baking powder2/3 C-milk
1/3 t-salt 1 T-"C" sugar
2 T-lard J/2 t-cinnamon
Mix the flour, baking-powder and salt. Cut in the lard with
a knife, add all but one teaspoonful of the beaten egg, then
add the milk gradually. Mix with a knife into a soft dough.
Pat into a square shape one-half inch thick. Brush over the
top with one teaspoonful of egg and sprinkle with the sugar
and cinnamon (mixed thoroughly). Cut into one and one-
half inch squares. Place in a tin pan and bake twelve minutes
in a hot oven.
Prune Blanc Mange (Four portions)
2 T-cornstarch l/i t-salt
2 T-sugar ]/2 C-cooked, cut prunes
4 T-cold milk y2 t-lemon extract
2/3 C-hot milk y2 t-vanilla
Mix the cornstarch, sugar and salt, and add the cold milk
slowly. Gradually add the hot milk. Cook in a double boiler
for twenty minutes. Add the prunes, lemon extract and vanilla.
Beat well, and serve cold with cream.
CHAPTER XLI
AND WHERE WAS THE DINNER?
ii TJ ELLO !" called Bob at the door one evening.
11 No answer.
"Hello, Bettina!" he called again. Again the dark house
gave forth no reply.
Feeling, it must be admitted, a little out of harmony with a
world that allowed weary and hungry husbands to come home
to dark and empty houses when the clock said plainly that it
was a quarter after six, Bob made his way to the kitchen.
Perhaps Bettina had left his dinner there for him; perhaps
she had been called away, or perhaps, even, she had rushed
out on some errand after dinner preparations were begun.
The kitchen, however, was -so immaculate as to seem distinctly
forbidding to a hungry man whose appetite was growing
keener every minute. And he had been thinking all the way
home that a hot dinner would taste so good !
At that moment a clamor of voices at the door aroused him.
"You poor old Bob !" cried Bettina, kissing him twice before
Fred and Ruth without the least embarrassment. "Have you
waited long?"
"It seemed hours," admitted Bob.
"Ruth and I have been to a tea for Alice. Fred came for
her there, and I persuaded them to come home to dinner with
me. I'll give you each something to do while I stirr up a little
cottage pudding. Then dinner will be ready in half an hour."
"Half an hour?" cried Bob. "But, Bettina, where is the
dinner? I didn't see any!"
"In the fireless cooker, you crazy boy! Are you 'most
starved?"
139
140 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
"Well," said Bob, "that cooker was the neatest, stiffest-
looking thing in the kitchen! I didn't dream that it was
busily cooking a dinner. Say, I'll be glad to see a hot meal
again !"
The dinner consisted of :
Round Steak with Vegetables
Dutch Cheese
Bread Plum Butter
Cottage Pudding Vanilla Sauce
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Round Steak with Vegetables (Six portions)
2 lbs. round steak 2 T-flour
6 potatoes 2 T-lard
6 carrots 2 t-salt
6 onions % t-paprika
H C-water
Pound the flour into the round steak with the edge of a
small plate. This breaks the fibers of the meat, making it
more tender. Wash and peel the potatoes, slicing in half
lengthwise. Scrape the carrots, and cut into one-half inch
slices lengthwise. Wash the onions and remove their outside
skins. Sprinkle the vegetables with one and a half level tea-
spoons of salt, and the paprika. Add the water, and place in
the bottom of the large fireless cooker utensil. Place the lard
in a frying pan, and when hot, add the meat. Brown thor-
oughly on each side. Salt the meat with one-half level tea-
spoon of salt, and place in the kettle on top of the vegetables.
Place the heated disks of the fireless cooker over and under
the utensil, and cook at least one hour in the cooker.
Cottage Pudding (Six portions)
iH C-flour
1 egg
3 t-baking powder
y2 C-milk
YA t-salt
y2 t-vanilla
Yz C-sugar
3 T-melted butter
Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add the egg,
milk and vanilla, and beat one minute. Add the melted butter,
and pour into a well buttered tin pan. Bake twenty minutes
in a moderate oven. Serve warm with vanilla sauce.
With Bettinas Best Recipes 141
Vanilla Sauce (Six portions)
2/3 C-sugar y2 t-lemon extract
3 T-flour yA t-salt
1 t-vanilla il/2 C-water
1 t-butter
Mix the sugar, flour and salt thoroughly. Add the water
slowly. Boil two minutes. Add the vanilla, lemon extract,
and butter. Beat one minute and serve. If too thick, more
water may be added.
CHAPTER XLII
ALICE TELLS HER TROUBLES
** A ND the minute I caught a glimpse of you, Bettina, at
-**■ the tea this afternoon, I thought, 'Oh, if Betty would
only ask me to go home with her to a sensible homelike din-
ner, with no one there but herself and Bob ' "
"Not even Harry, Alice?"
"No, not even Harry ! I'm so sick and tired of teas and
dressmakers and wedding gowns and bridesmaids that Fm
tired even of Harry, too ! Almost."
"But, Alice, then why do it all ? Why have all this fuss and
feathers?" And Bettina's knife, with which she was cutting
bread, came down with a click of vehemence. "It has always
seemed silly to me — all the worry and bother "
"But what can I do now, Bettina? I've started, and I'll
have to go through with it ! Why, even now, I ought to be
home for dinner — mother has several guests — but I phoned
her that I had a headache and was coming here, where I
could be quiet. And I do have a headache — and no appetite,
and "
"Just wait till you taste this nice brown meat that I have
in the oven, Alice ! The trouble with you is that you've been
eating silly party food for such a long time. And tonight
you are to have a sensible dinner with plain people."
"Plain people? Who calls me plain?" interrupted Bob, com-
ing in like a tornado. "Hello, Alice! How can you spare
any time from all these festivities I hear about?"
For dinner that night they had :
142
With Bettinas Best Recipes L43
Rolled Flank of Beef with Bread Dressing
Browned Potatoes Hot Slaw
Prune Pudding Cream
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Rolled Flank of Beef (Four portions)
1 lb. round steak one inch thick I t-salt
2 T-flour 2 one-inch cubes of suet
Wipe the meat, trim the edges, pound on both sides with
the edge of a plate to break the tendon. Place the dressing
(given below) on the steak, roll, and tie with a cord. Roll
in the flour and salt. Place in a small dripping pan, put the
suet on the top of the meat, add enough water to cover the
bottom of the pan, and bake in a moderate oven for fifty
minutes. Baste frequently.
Bread Dressing
i C-soft bread crumbs % t-celery salt
i T-melted butter */2 t-sak
i t-chopped parsley % t-pepper
y2 t-chopped onion 2 T-water
Mix all the ingredients in the order named, stirring lightly
with a fork. Place in shape on the meat. Care should be
taken not to have the dressing soggy or heavy.
Prune Pudding (Four portions)
1 C-cooked, seeded and 1 t-vanilla
chopped prunes
Y$ C-sugar
54 C-nut meats, cut fine 1 t-baking powder
y2 C-milk y& t-salt
Mix all the ingredients in the order named. Pour into a
well-buttered shallow earthenware dish. Place the dish in
a pan of hot water and bake twenty-five minutes in a moderate
oven, or until the mixture is firm. Serve warm. Individual
amounts may be made in moulds.
CHAPTER XLIII
THE DIXONS COME TO DINNER
*</^HARLOTTE, you must have Bettina tell you how to
^■^ cook fish this way," said Frank.
"It's the Bechamel sauce on it that you like, I suspect," said
Bettina. "And it isn't at all hard to make. I serve it with
so many things. We like it with carrots "
"Oh, is it the very same sauce that you serve with carrots?"
said Charlotte. "I can make it, Frank. I'll have it for din-
ner one of these days, with halibut, just as Bettina has served
it tonight."
"There is only one thing to think about especially in making
it," said Bettina. "After you have beaten the egg slightly, add
a very little of the hot liquid to it, and then pour the mixture
into the rest. Then cook it a short time, not long, as a sauce
made with egg sometimes separates."
"I'll remember," said Charlotte. "You do have such good
meals, Bettina. How do you manage it? Sometimes I can
think of the best things to cook, and other days I don't seem
to have a bit of imagination !"
"I plan my menu all out a week, and sometimes two weeks,
ahead," said Bettina. "It is really quite a complicated process,
as I want to have a variety, as well as inexpensive things that
are on the market. Of course, I may change my plans in
many details, but I keep to the general outline. Planning the
meals seems simple, but it really requires a lot of thinking
sometimes. Excuse me while I bring in the dessert. Bob, will
you please help me take the plates?"
The menu that night consisted of:
144
With Bettinas Best Recipes H5
Sauted Halibut Steak Bechamel Sauce
Potato Cubes Butter Sauce
Sliced Cucumbers and Onions with Vinegar
Rolls Butter
Prune Whip Whipped Cream
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Bechamel Sauce (Four portions)
2 T-butter 1/3 t-salt
2 T-flour Y% t-paprika
\y2 C-milk 1 egg-yolk
Melt the butter, add the flour, salt and pepper, mix well,
and gradually add the milk. Cook until it thickens. (Not as
thick as white sauce for vegetables.) Add the egg yolk.
Serve immediately.
To add egg yolk to the hot liquid, beat the egg slightly, add
a small portion of the hot liquid slowly and pour it all into
the remainder of the hot liquid. Cook only a short time, as
the mixture may separate if cooked longer.
Potato Cubes (Four portions)
2 C-raw potatoes cut JA t-salt
in 24-inch cubes 4 C-boiling water
Add the salt to the boiling water, add the potatoes and boil
till tender. (About ten minutes.) Drain and shake over the
fire for a moment. Add the sauce, and serve.
Butter Sauce (Four portions)
2 T-butter 1 t-chopped green pepper
1 T-chopped parsley % t-paprika
Mix together, heat and add to the potatoes.
Prune Whip (Four portions)
1/3 lb. prunes 1 T-lemon juice
3 egg-whites l/2 C-sugar
Pick over and wash the prunes, then soak for several hours
in cold water, enough to cover. Cook slowly until soft, about
146 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
fifteen minutes. Rub through a strainer. Add sugar and
lemon juice and cook five minutes ; the mixture should be the
consistency of marmalade.
Beat the whites until stiff, add the prunes when cold, pile
lightly into a buttered baking dish and bake twenty minutes
in a slow oven. Serve with cream.
CHAPTER XLIV
THE WEDDING INVITATIONS
BOB and Bettina had scarcely sat down to dinner one crisp
cold evening, when they heard laughing voices at the
door. "It sounds like Alice/' said Bettina. "What can she
be up to now ? And Harry, too !"
Bob had already thrown open the door, and there, as Bettina
had guessed, were Alice and Harry, each carrying a large box.
"We've come to deliver your invitation to the wedding," said
Alice. "It may be unconventional, but it's fun. The rest we
are going down to mail — that is, if we don't get frightened at
the idea, and pitch the boxes in the river instead."
"If that's the way you feel," said Harry firmly, "I'll carry
your box myself."
"Please don't, Harry! Just think, I may never have an-
other opportunity of mailing the invitations to my own wed-
ding, so don't deprive me of the privilege."
"Stay to dinner won't you?" said Bettina. "We had really
planned on having Uncle John and Aunt Mary this evening,
but they didn't come to town after all. So I am sure we have
plenty, even to apple dumplings for dessert."
"Harry had asked me to take dinner with him down town,"
said Alice, "by way of celebrating when these invitations were
mailed. But perhaps we might stay here instead, since this
was the very place in which we met first! Harry, I believe
sentiment demands that we accept Bettina's invitation."
"I must broil another steak," said Bettina, "but that will
take only a few minutes. I'm so glad you can stay."
"But we'll have to leave immediately after dinner," said
147
148 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Alice, "for these invitations simply must be mailed this eve-
ning."
That night for dinner, Bettina served:
Beefsteak Mashed Potatoes
Turnips
Lettuce Bettina's Russian Salad Dressing
Apple Dumplings and Cream
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Turnips (Four portions)
4 turnips % t-salt
I T-butter % t-pepper
Wash, pare and cut the turnips in small pieces. Cook until
transparent and tender. Drain, mash, add the butter, salt and
pepper, mix thoroughly and return to the fire to dry out the
superfluous water. Serve hot with vinegar. (Never cook
turnips until brown.)
Head Lettuce (Four portions)
i head lettuce
Remove the outer leaves and core of the lettuce. Clean
thoroughly. Place very wet in a towel, wrap well and lay
directly on the ice. Allow to stand one hour before serving to
allow the lettuce to get very cold and crisp.
Bettina's Russian Dressing (Four portions)
y2 C-salad dressing 2 T-chili sauce
i T-chopped green pepper
Mix the ingredients in the order named. Shake thoroughly
in a glass jar. Serve cold.
Apple Dumplings (Four portions)
i C-flour 1/3 C-water
2 t-baking powder 4 apples
% t-salt H C-sugar
2 T-lard 1 t-cinnamon
Mix thoroughly the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut
in the lard with a knife, and then add the water, mixing to a
With Bettinas Best Recipes 149
soft dough. Roll on a well-floured board to one-fourth of an
inch in thickness. Wipe and pare the apples, and cut them
in quarters.
Cut the dough in four square pieces. Place four quarters
of apple in the center of each piece of dough. Sprinkle with
sugar and cinnamon. Moisten the edges of the dough with
water. Bring the four corners of each piece up around the
apple, pressing tightly together. Pierce with a fork to allow
the escape of steam. Place each dumpling upside down on a
floured tin, and bake thirty-five minutes in a moderate oven.
Serve warm with cream.
CHAPTER XLV
HALLOWE'EN PREPARATIONS
it* I *HERE it is again!" said Bob to Ruth, who was dining
■*■ with them. "And now it's gone!"
"I feel the same old Hallowe'en thrill that I used to, years
ago," said Bettina, "when I turn around suddenly and see a
jack-o'-lantern grinning in at the window ! Don't you love
them?"
"Those are the Stewart children," said Bob. "They're just
hoping that I'll come out and chase them away! There's no
fun for them in having us like it too well! You girls ought
to give at least an imitation of a shriek apiece. You don't
have ladylike nerves at all!"
"Bob, that jack-o'-lantern reminds me that we have a piece
of work laid out for you — making the jack-o'-lanterns for a
Hallowe'en party we have planned. Will you do it?"
"Will I?" said Bob. "Indeed I will! I haven't made one
for years and years ! Not since I was a boy !"
"Years and years and years and years !" said Ruth, laugh-
ing. "Well, this party is in honor of Harry, so you mustn't
tell him anything about it — not even that we're giving it. And
Bob, I believe Fred would help make the jack-o'-lanterns."
"See here, Ruth," said Bob, "you want Fred to get half the
credit for the artistic job I'm going to do. Well, for your
sake, I may let him help a little, but I'm bossing the work, I
can tell you. Why, I'm particular."
That evening's menu consisted of :
150
With Bettinas Best Recipes 151
Breaded Lamb Chops Baked Potatoes
Creamed Peas
Sliced Tomatoes Salad Dressing
Steamed Date Pudding Lemon Sauce
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Breaded Lamb Chops (Four portions)
4 chops l/2 C-bread crumbs
i egg-yolk y2 t-salt
i T-water i T-butter
Wash and look over the chops carefully to remove any
particles of bone. Beat the egg yolk and water. Dip each
chop into the egg mixture, and then roll in the crumbs, to which
the salt has been added. Place in a buttered pan, dot well
with butter, and bake twenty-five minutes in a hot oven.
Steamed Date Pudding
2/3 C-soft, fresh bread crumbs I egg
2/3 C-flour 2/3 C-dates, chopped fine
2 t-baking powder y2 t-salt
2/3 C-fine chopped suet I t-vanilla
2/3 C-sugar 2/3 C-milk
Mix all the ingredients in the order given. Stir well for
two minutes, and place in a buttered mould. Steam two hours
on the stove or in the fireless cooker. Serve hot with lemon
sauce.
Lemon Sauce
y2 C-sugar 2 T-lemon juice
1 T-flour y8 t-salt
1 C-water i t-butter
Mix well the flour, sugar and salt, add the water and cook
for one minute. Add the lemon juice and butter. Beat vigor-
ously, and serve with the date pudding.
CHAPTER XLVI
HALLOWE'EN REVELS
"Come, on mystic Hallowe'en,
Let us seek the dreadful scene,
Where the witches, imps and devils,
Elves and ghosts will hold their revels !
1 107 Carberry Avenue.
Seven o'clock."
THIS was the invitation received by Harry, Alice, Fred
and even Bob, who had an inkling of what was about to
happen, inasmuch as 1107 Carberry Avenue happened to be his
own address. At seven o'clock that evening Bob was no-
where to be found. However, when four horribly disguised
figures were ushered into the house, the witch who pointed
the way up the stairs seemed satisfied. A few minutes later,
the ghosts and demons having removed such garments as were
needed only in the outer air, assembled in the weirdly lighted
living-room. All of the electric lights were covered with yel-
low crepe paper shades, with faces cut in them. Jack-o'-
lanterns stood in every conceivable place, and a fire burned
brightly in the open fireplace.
The two witches, who were evidently the hostesses, com-
menced a weird chant in a minor key. The male ghosts, three
in number, immediately took up the music, if it could be so
called, howling in loud and uncanny tones. Thereupon the
witches beckoned the whole company with all speed to the
dining-room.
The table was a mass of color and light. Potatoes, carrots
and beets, with sticks for legs, held the lighted candles. At
each place were individual favors, witches holding the place
cards, and small Jack-o'-lanterns standing beside them. The
152
With Bettinas Best Recipes 153
center of the table was a miniature field of pumpkins and corn-
stalks.
The place cards were read and the places were found. The
guest of honor, he who sat at the right of her who was evi-
dently "witch-in-charge," discovered the following on his card,
and the others were equally descriptive and illuminating:
This place is laid for one who soon
Will marry !
O youth bewitched by maid and moon,
Be wary !
But if you can't, then make it soon,
Dear Harry !
The supper, decorative as well as delicious, was all upon the
table. Little individual pumpkin pies on paper doilies stood
beside each place. The salad caused much delight among the
guests, who at the invitation of the witches, had now removed
their masks. A large red apple with a face cut on the outside,
had been hollowed out, and the salad was within. On the top
of the apple was a round wafer with a marshmallow upon it
to represent a hat. The hat was further decorated with a
"stick-up" of stick candy on one side. The apple stood on a
leaf of lettuce, with a yellow salad dressing necktie. The
favor boxes, which were under the witches, were filled with
candy corn, while the popcorn balls, placed on a platter, had
features of chocolate fudge, and bonnets of frilled paper.
The supper menu was as follows :
Oyster Patties Bettina's Surprise Salad
Hallowe'en Sandwiches Pickles
Pumpkin Pie
Cider Doughnuts
Jumbles Popcorn Balls
"Have ano'her jumble, Harry," urged Ruth. "See, this one
has unusual e*'es and a particularly soulful expression."
"I have already eaten so many that I fear my memory of this
party will be a jumble of faces ! I'll see them in my sleep —
all with that soulful expression!"
"Another toasted marshmallow, Bettina:"' asKea I7 red,
154 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
thrusting it toward her on the end of a hat-pin. "This candle
is nearly burned out, so I'm afraid I can't offer you any
more."
"It is really time to bob for apples," said Bettina. "Who
ever heard of a Hallowe'en party without that ! And we must
each try to bite the swinging doughnut, and then we must blind-
fold each other and try to pin the tail on the unfortunate black
cat. Bob, will you carry this tub into the living-room? And
Ruth, will you remove the popcorn balls to the piano bench?
Perhaps someone will grow hungry from the exertion of these
games. And I know that later in the evening Alice, though a
guest, will tell our fortunes."
"Alice can tell my fortune by looking at her own hand," said
Harry. "Because she holds my happiness there."
"What a sentimental sentence, Harry !" said Fred, looking
amazed. "See, you've embarrassed us all!"
"Well, I'm always being called cold and reserved, and I've
decided to turn over a new leaf."
"Oh, Harry, don't be so foolish !" said Alice, who had grown
as red as the apples on the table. "It's time for games !"
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Oyster Patties (Six portions)
3 T-butter y2 t-salt
4 T-flour % t-paprika
I C-milk y2 pint of oysters
Clean the oysters by removing any shells, and drain off the
liquor. Melt the butter, add the flour and salt, and mix thor-
oughly. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly. Cook
until very thick. Place the oysters in a pan and heat one min-
ute. This "plumps" them. Do not cook too long. Add the
oysters to the white sauce, and serve immediately in patty
shells which have been freshened in a hot oven.
Bettina's Surprise Salad (Six portions)
6 apples y2 C-sliced diced pineapple
i green pepper, chopped fine 2 T-chopped nut meats
y2 C-diced celery i C-salad dressing
x/2 C-seeded white grapes z/2 t-salt
y2 C-diced marshmallows
With Bettina's Best Recipes 155
Remove the insides of the apples, add the green pepper,
celery, grapes, marshmallows, pineapple, nut-meats and salt.
mixed thoroughly with the salad dressing. Serve very cold.
To Make the Hallowe'en Sandwiches
When the bread is a day old, cut in slices one-third inch
thick. Match in pairs. Cream the butter and spread one side.
Place the other side on top. Press firmly. With a thimble cut
out circles on one piece of the bread, cut nose and mouth with
a knife. The butter showing through gives the resemblance
to features.
Pumpkin Pie (Eight pies)
Crusts
1 C-flour 3 T-water
5 T-lard y2 t-salt
Cut the lard into the flour and salt. Add sufficient water
to make a stiff dough on a floured board. Roll into shape one-
fourth inch thick. Place in tin muffin pans making individual
pies, filling with the following mixture and baking 30 minutes
in a moderate oven.
Pumpkin Filling
iY2 C-canned pumpkin y2 t-ginger
2/3 C-brown sugar x/2 t-salt
1 t-cinnamon 2 eggs
2 C-milk
Mix the ingredients in the order given, and fill the pie-crusts
two-thirds full.
Jumbles (Twenty-four jumbles)
y2 C-butter y2 C-sour milk
i C-sugar
yA t-salt
i egg
About 2 C-flour
y2 t-soda
Grape jelly.
Cream the butter, add the sugar, and gradually add the egg,
the soda mixed with the sour milk, the salt, and the flour to
make a soft dough. (One which will roll easily.) Cut into
shape with a round cooky cutter. On the centers of one-half
the pieces, place a spoonful of grape jelly. Make features on
the rest, using a thimble to cut out the eyes. Press the two
together, and bake 12 minutes in a moderate oven.
NOVEMBER.
Cosy fire a-burning bright,-
Cosy tables robed in white -
Dainty dishes smoking hot,
Home! And cold and snow forgot!
mmmmmmmm
CHAPTER XLVII
A FORETASTE OF WINTER
"CAY, but it's cold today!"
^ called Bob at the door.
"Frost tonight all right! I was
glad I took my overcoat this
morning. Have you had a fire
all day?"
"Yes, indeed," said Bettina,
"and I've spent most of the af-
ternoon cleaning my furs with
corn meal, and fixing those new
comforters for the sleeping
porch, and putting away some of the summer clothing."
"I believe we will need those new comforters tonight. How
were you fixing them?"
"I was basting a white cheese-cloth edge, about twelve inches
wide, along the width that goes at the head of the bed, you
know. It's so easy to rip off and wash, and I like to have all
the comforters fixed that way. I was cleaning my old furs,
too, to cut them up. I'm planning to have a fur edge on my
suit this winter. I don't believe you'll know the furs, the
suit, or Bettina when you see the combination we will make to-
gether ! Fur is the thing this year, you know."
"Couldn't you spare me a little to transform my overcoat?
I'd like to look different, too !"
"Silly ! Come along to the kitchen ! There's beefsteak to-
night (won't it taste good?) and I want you to cook it, while
I'm getting the other things on the table. I didn't expect you
quite so soon."
157
158 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
That night for dinner they had :
Beefsteak Creamed Potatoes
Devilled Tomatoes
Rolls Butter
Plum Sauce
Bettina's Drop Cookies
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Creamed Potatoes (Two portions)
I C-diced cooked potatoes i T-flour
i T-green pepper, chopped fine T/2 C-milk
i T-butter yA t-salt
Melt the butter, add the flour and salt, mix well, and add the
milk slowly. Cook until creamy, and add the potatoes and
the chopped green pepper. Serve very hot.
Devilled Tomatoes (Two portions)
2 tomatoes l/2 t-mustard
2 T-flour y8 t-salt
I T-lard A pinch of paprika
% t-salt i hard-cooked egg
i T-butter y2 t-flour
I T-sugar 2 T-vinegar
i T-water
Pee! the tomatoes, cut in half and sprinkle with flour. Place
the lard in a frying-pan, and when hot, add the tomatoes.
Brown nicely on both sides, and sprinkle with salt. When
brown, place on a hot platter and pour over them the follow-
ing sauce: Sauce — Place the butter in a pan, add the sugar,
mustard, salt and paprika, the egg cut fine, and the flour. Mix
well, add the vinegar and water. Heat, allow to boil one min-
ute, and then pour over the tomatoes. (If the sauce seems too
thick when it has boiled one minute, add a little more water.)
Drop Cookies (Twenty-four cookies)
1/3 C-butter lA t-salt
I C-sugar i t-vanilla
I egg x/\ C-chopped raisins
y2 C-sour milk 2x/2 C-flour
y*. t-soda y2 t-baking powder
With Bettinas Best Recipes 159
Cream the butter, add the sugar, then the whole egg. Mix
well. Add the sour milk and the vanilla. Mix the baking
powder, soda and flour well, add the raisins and add to the
first mixture. Beat well. Drop from a spoon onto a buttered
and floured pan, leaving three inches between the cookies.
Bake fifteen minutes in a moderate oven.
CHAPTER XLVIII
THE HICKORY LOG
ff QAY, this feels good!" said Bob, as he warmed his hands
^ by the cheerful blaze.
"Doesn't it!" said Bettina, enthusiastically. "And see, I've
set the dinner table here by the fireplace. It's such fun when
just the two of us are here. Isn't the log burning well ?"
"I wondered if we could use one of our new logs tonight —
thought about it all the way home. And here you had already
tried it ! November has turned so much colder that I believe
winter is coming."
"So do I, but I don't mind, I don't want a warm Thanks-
giving."
"Dinner ready ? M — m, what's that ? Lamb chops ? Escal-
loped potatoes ? Smells good !"
"Come on, dear ! After dinner, we'll try those nuts we left
so long out at Uncle John's. Do you think they're dry enough
by this time? Charlotte phoned me that they had tried theirs,
and found them fine. By the way, she and Frank may come
over this evening."
"Hope they do. Listen — I hear a car outside now."
"Sure enough, that's Frank and Charlotte. Go to the door,
Bob ! We'll persuade them to eat dessert with us. . . Hello,
people! Come in; you're just in time to have some tea and a
ginger drop-cake apiece."
"That's what we came for, Bettina !" shouted Frank, laugh-
ing. "And then you must come out in the car with us. It's
a beautiful, clear, cold night, and you'll enjoy it — if you tak^
plenty of wraps!"
For dinner that night Bettina served:
160
With Bettina's Best Recipes 161
Lamb Chops Escalloped Potatoes
Egg Plant
Bread Butter
Ginger Drop-Cakes
Tea
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level).
Broiled Lamb Chops (Two portions)
2 lamb chops i t-salt
J4 t-paprika
Wipe the chops and place in a red-hot pan over the flame.
When the under surface is seared, turn and sear the other side.
Turn often for twelve minutes. When nearly cooked, sprinkle
with salt and paprika.
Escalloped Potatoes (Two portions)
iz/2 C-raw potatoes, sliced l/2 C-milk
y2 t-salt i T-butter
i T-flour % t-paprika
i T-chopped green pepper
Mix the potatoes, salt, flour, paprika and green pepper.
Place in a buttered baking dish or casserole. Pour the milk
over the mixture and dot with butter. Put a cover on the dish
and allow to cook for half an hour. Remove the cover and
allow to cook twenty minutes more. More milk may be added
if the mixture is too dry.
Egg Plant (Three portions)
I egg plant I T-water
I t-salt r/2 C-cracker crumbs
i T-egg-yolk 2 T-lard
Peel and slice the egg plant in slices one-half an inch thick.
Sprinkle each slice with salt. Place the slices on top and allow
to stand for two hours. This drains out the liquid. Wipe each
piece with a cloth and dip in the beaten egg-yolk, to which the
water has been added. Dip in the cracker crumbs. Place the
lard in a frying-pan, and when very hot, add the slices of egg
plant. Brown thoroughly on both sides, lower the fire and
lav A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
cook five minutes. Serve on a hot platter with the slices over-
lapping each other.
Ginger Drop-Cakes (Fifteen cakes)
i C-molasses 2 t-ginger
Yz C-boiling water y2 t-salt
2x/i C-flour y2 C-chopped raisins
1 t-soda 4 T-melted butter
Put the molasses in a bowl, add the boiling water and the
dry ingredients, sifted. Then add the raisins and the melted
butter. Beat well for two minutes. Pour into buttered muffin
pans, filling the pans one-half full. Bake twenty minutes in a
moderate oven.
CHAPTER XLIX
SOME CHRISTMAS PLANS
tt/^HRISTMAS is in the air today, I believe," said Char-
^^ lotte as she took off her hat and warmed her cold
hands at Bettina's open fire. "You ought to see the children
around the toys downtown — swarming like flies at the molas-
ses ! Still, we ought to think about Thanksgiving before we
begin our Christmas plans, I suppose."
"I try to get all my Christmas packages ready by Thanks-
giving," said Bettina. "Of course, I don't always succeed,
but it is a splendid aim to have ! There is always so much to
do at the last minute — baking and company and candy mak-
ing! This year we plan to give very few gifts — but to send
a card at least to each of our friends. We're racking our
brains now to think of something that will be individual —
really ours, you know. I think a tiny snapshot of yourself or
your home, or your baby or your dog — or even a sprig of holly
or a bit of evergreen on a card with a few written words of
greeting means more to a friend than all the lovely engraved
cards in the world ! Of course, some people can draw or paint
and make their own — Alice will, I'm sure. One girl I know
makes wonderful fruit cake, and she always sends a piece of
it, in a little box tied with holly ribbon, to each of her friends.
Aren't the little gifts that aren't too hard on one's purse the
best after all — especially when they really come straight from
the giver, and not merely from the store ?"
"Bettina, I'll be afraid to send you anything after such an
eloquent sermon as this!"
"Oh, Charlotte, how you talk ! I'm telling you my idea of
163
164 A thousand Ways To Please a Husband
what a Christmas gift should be, but I'll probably fall far
below it myself ! Luncheon is ready, dear."
For luncheon Bettina and Mrs. Dixon had :
Mutton in Ramekins
Rice
Peanut Bread
Butter
Apple Sauce
Tokay Grapes
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Mutton in Ramekins (Three portions)
V/2 C-cold mutton 1 t-chopped mint
2/3 C-brown gravy 1 egg-yolk
Yz t-salt 1 egg-white, beaten stiff
Mix the mutton, gravy, salt, mint and egg-yolk thoroughly.
Add the egg-white. Turn into well-buttered ramekins or china
baking dishes. Bake in a moderate oven in a pan of hot water
for twenty-five minutes. Serve in the ramekins.
Rice (Three portions)
y2 C-rice 1 t-salt
2 qts. boiling water 1 T-butter
Wash the rice, add slowly to the boiling salted water. Boil
twenty minutes. Pour the rice in a strainer and rinse with
cold water. Place in the oven for five minutes to dry. Serve
warm, dotted with butter.
Peanut Bread (Twelve slices)
2 C-flour
4 T-"C" sugar
4 t-baking
powder 1 egg
/* t-salt
y2 C-chopped peanuts
Yi, C-milk
Mix thoroughly the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and
peanuts. Add the tgg and milk. Stir vigorously two minutes.
Place in a well-buttered bread pan, and bake thirty-five minutes
in a moderate oven.
AFTER THE FOOTBALL GAME
W I AHERE are the men now," said Mrs. Dixon, rolling
■"- up the hose she had been darning. "Good !" said Bet-
tina. "The dinner is just ready for them, and I'm glad they
didn't keep us waiting."
"Hello ! Hello !" shouted Frank and Bob, letting in a gust of
cold air as they opened the door. "Whew ! It's cold !"
"How was the game?"
"Fine ! 39 to o in favor of Blake !"
"Not very exciting, I should think."
"Still, Frank here wanted to bet me that Blake would be
badly beaten!"
"Frank !" said Charlotte in exasperation. "Is that the way
you show your loyalty to your home college ?"
"Shame on you, Frank!" grinned Bob. "Well, dinner
ready? I'm about starving!"
"Bettina has a regular 'after-the-game' dinner tonight," said
Charlotte. "Just the kind to make a man's heart rejoice!"
"Hurray !" said Bob, stirring up the grate fire. "And after-
ward we'll have our coffee in here, and toast marshmallows.
Shall we?"
"Suits me !" said Frank. "Anything you suggest suits me,
if it's something to eat."
"Dinner's ready," said Bettina. "Come into the dining-room,
people, and tell us about the game. Charlotte and I have
mended all your hose this afternoon, and we deserve a royal
entertainment now."
1*35
166 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
"Bettina," said Frank, "do you expect us to talk when you
set a dinner like this before us?"
The menu consisted of:
Flank Steak, Braized with Vegetables
Cabbage Salad
Bread Butter
Brown Betty with Hard Sauce
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Flank Steak Braized with Vegetables (Four portions)
V/2 lbs. flank steak, 1*4 inches I T-butter
thick 1^2 C-sliced, raw potatoes
2 T-flour y2 C-thinly sliced onions
2 t-salt i green pepper, sliced thin
i C-tomato pulp
Cut with a knife across the grain of the flank steak, to pre-
vent it from curling up. Sprinkle the flour and one teaspoon ful
of salt on both sides of the meat. Dot with butter, and place
in an oblong baking pan. Over the meat place a thick layer
of sliced raw potatoes. Add the green pepper, and season
with one-half a teasponful of salt. Place the onions next and
the rest of the salt. (One-half a teaspoon ful.) Pour one
cup of stewed or raw tomato pulp over all the mixture, and
cover the baking pan tightly. Cook slowly in the oven for
two hours. One-half hour before the meat is done, remove
the cover to allow it to brown. Water may need to be added
to prevent burning. In serving, very carefully transfer the
steak to a hot platter, preserving the various layers of vege-
tables. To serve, slice down through the layers as through a
loaf.
Cabbage Salad (Four portions)
2 C-chopped cabbage }A t-salt
2 pieces of celery J4 t-paprika
y2 C-salad dressing or enough to moisten
Chop the cabbage and the celery fine. Add salt, paprika and
salad dressing. Serve cold.
With Bettinas Best Recipes 167
Brown Betty (Four portions)
2 C-bread crumbs I t-cinnamon
2 C-sliced apples, pared and Yz C-water
cored I T-lemon juice
J4 C-sugar i T-butter
y& t-salt
Mix the crumbs, apples, sugar, salt and cinnamon well.
Pour water and lemon juice over the mixture. Place in a but-
tered baking-dish. Place the butter over the top in small
pieces. Cover the pan with a lid and bake in a moderate oven
forty-five to sixty minutes. Remove the lid after the Brown
Betty has been cooking twenty-five minutes More water may
be needed if the apples are not very juicy.
Hard Sauce (Four portions)
3 T-butter % t-lemon extract
I t-boiling water % t-vanilla extract
24 C-powdered sugar
Cream the butter, add the water and slowly add the sugar.
Continue mixing until very creamy. Add the lemon and va-
nilla extract. Form into a cube and place in the ice box. Al-
low to stand half an hour, then cut into slices and serve on top
of the Brown Betty.
CHAPTER LI
A THANKSGIVING DINNER IN THE COUNTRY
AFTER all the excitement of Alice's wedding, Bettina
was more than delighted when she and Bob were invited
to a family dinner at Aunt Lucy's on Thanksgiving day. "It
always seems to me the most comfortable and restful place in
the world," said she to Bob. "And Aunt Lucy is such a won-
derful cook, too ! We're very lucky this year, I can tell you !"
"Who's to be there?"
"Father and mother — we are to drive out with them — and
Aunt Lucy's sister and her big family. Thanksgiving seems
more natural with children at the table, I think. And those
are the liveliest, rosiest children!"
Bob had slept late that morning, and consequently had eaten
no breakfast, but he did not regret his keen appetite when
Uncle John was carving the great brown turkey.
"The children first, John," said kind Aunt Lucy. "The
grown folks can wait."
Little Dick and Sarah had exclaimed with delight at the
place cards of proud turkeys standing beside each plate. In
the center of the table was a great wicker basket heaped with
oranges, nuts and raisins.
"It doesn't seem natural without pumpkin pie," said Aunt
Lucy, "but John was all for plum pudding instead."
"We can have pie any day," said Uncle John, "but this is a
special occasion. What with Dick here — and Sarah — and Bet-
tina— who's some cook herself, I can tell you ! — I was deter-
mined that mother should show her skill ! And she did ; didn't
she?"
1C>S
With Bettinas Best Recipes 169
The menu was as follows :
Turkey with Giblet Gravy Oyster Dressing
Mashed Potatoes Creamed Onions
Cranberry Frappe
Bread Celery Butter
Plum Pudding Hard Sauce
Nuts Raisins
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
THE THANKSGIVING DINNER RECIPES
Roast Turkey (Fourteen portions)
i 12-lb. turkey
The turkey should be thoroughly cleaned and washed in a
pan of water to which one teaspoon of soda has been added
to each two quarts of water. Wash the inside with a cloth,
rinsing thoroughly, allowing plenty of water to run through the
turkey. Dry well and stuff. Season all over with salt, pepper
and butter. When baking, lay the fowl first on one side, then
on the other until one-half hour before taking from the oven.
Then it should be turned on its back, allowing the breast to
brown. A twelve pound turkey should be cooked three hours
in a moderate oven, basting frequently.
Oyster Dressing (Fourteen portions)
6 C-stale bread crumbs 2 t-salt
Yz C-melted butter y2 t-pepper
1 pt. oysters
Mix the ingredients in the order given, adding the oysters
cleaned and drained from the liquor. Fill the turkey and sew
up with needle and thread.
Preparing the Giblets
Wash thoroughly the heart, liver and gizzard. Cut through
the thick muscle of the gizzard and peel it slowly without
breaking through the inside lining. Cut the heart open, and
remove carefully the gall bladder from the liver. Wash care-
fully again, and soak ten minutes in salted water. Cook slowly
170 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
until tender, in one cup of water. More water may be needed.
Cut fine, and add to the gravy. Save the stock.
The Gravy
i C-stock i T-cold water
2 T-flour YA t-salt
For each cup of liquor, which is left in the roasting pan, add
one tablespoon of flour. Mix the flour with two tablespoons of
cold water, add the liquid slowly, and cook two minutes. Add
one-fourth of a teaspoon of salt, and the giblets. Serve hot.
Creamed Onions (Six portions)
2 C-cooked onions i C-white sauce
Cook the onions in one quart of water in an uncovered
utensil until tender. (About fifteen minutes.) Drain and add
one cup of white sauce. Serve hot.
Plum Pudding (Six portions)
2 C-soft bread crumbs J/2 C-molasses
Y* t-soda 4 T-"C" sugar
*4 t-cloves i egg
I t-cinnamon Y\ C-milk
% t-salt ]/2 C-currants
y2 C-suet y2 C-raisins
i t-vanilla
Chop the suet, and sprinkle with one tablespoon of flour to
prevent sticking. Add the raisins, currants, "C" sugar, salt,
cinnamon, cloves and bread crumbs. Add the tgg and milk
beaten together, add the vanilla, mix the soda in the molasses
and add to the first mixture. Fill a well-buttered pudding
mould one-half full. Steam two hours. Serve with hard
sauce.
Hard Sauce
1/3 C-butter Y$ C-brown sugar
2 T-hot water y2 t-vanilla
y2 t-lemon extract
Cream the butter, add water and gradually add the sugar.
Continue mixing until very creamy. Add the vanilla and
lemon extract. Chill and serve over the hot pudding.
CHAPTER LII
PLANNING THE CHRISTMAS CARDS
ft \ ND what is in this dish, Bettina?" asked Bob, as he
-ZjL lifted the hot cover.
"Candied sweet potatoes, dear, and I'm almost sure that
you'll like them. I made them in the fireless cooker, and
they're really more candy than potatoes."
"They'll suit me, then," said Bob. "The sweeter the better !
My mother used to cook up candied sweet potatoes with a lot
of brown sugar syrup — say, but they tasted good about this
time of year when I would come in from skating! Well, I
believe these are exactly like hers !"
"Only hers weren't made in a fireless cooker," said Bettina.
"Now, Bob, as soon as you have allayed your hunger a little
we must put our heads together long enough to get an idea for
Christmas cards. If we have something made, it may take
several weeks, and you know it is no small task to address
several hundred of them. As soon as we have ordered them,
we'd better make out our Christmas list. But first, what shall
the cards be? Think, Bob !"
"Goodness gracious sakes alive, but thinking is hot work!
Well, how's this? Suppose we don't have cards engraved —
they're expensive, and besides, 'twould take too long! We'll
find some plain white correspondence cards — or perhaps white
cards with a red edge — and envelopes to go with them, and in
the corner of the card we'll stick a tiny round snapshot of the
house. Then we'll write this verse very neatly and sign it
'Bettina and Bob.' Perhaps you can improve on this, how-
ever:
171
172 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
"We enclose our Christmas greetings
And the hope that we may know
Many happy future meetings
In this little bungalow !"
"Bob, that's the very thing !" cried Bettina.
For dinner that night they had :
Beefsteak Fireless Sweet Potatoes
Creamed Carrots
Pineapple Charlotte Custard Sauce
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Fireless Sweet Potatoes (Candied) (Six Portions)
6 large sweet potatoes I t-salt
i C-brown sugar J4 t-pepper
54 C-water I T-butter
Wash and peel the sweet potatoes. Slice them lengthwise
in one-half inch slices. Make a syrup by boiling for five
minutes the brown sugar and water. Add the butter. Ar-
range the potatoes in a fireless cooker utensil. Sprinkle with
salt and pepper, and pour the syrup over them. Place the
heated disks under and over the pan of potatoes, and cook in
the fireless an hour and a half.
Pineapple Charlotte (Four portions)
2 T-corn starch 2 egg-whites
4 T-cold water I t-vanilla
"% t-salt Yz t-lemon extract
J4 C-sugar 2 slices of pineapple cut
i C-boiling water in slices lengthwise
Mix the corn starch, salt and sugar ; gradually add the cold
water, stirring well, and then add the hot water. Cook about
five minutes, stirring constantly. Then add the vanilla, and
the egg-whites stiffly beaten. Pour into a moistened mould in
which the slices of pineapple have been arranged. Set in a
cool place for two hours. Serve with custard sauce.
With Bettinas Best Recipes 173
Custard Sauce (Four portions)
il/2 C-milk l/2 t-vanilla
2 egg-yolks % t-salt
J4 C-sugar I T-flour
J4 t-lemon extract
Mix well the sugar, salt and flour, gradually add the beaten
egg-yolks, and the milk. Cook in a double boiler until the
mixture coats a silver spoon yellow. Add the vanilla and
lemon extract. Beat one minute. Serve very cold.
DECEMBER.
Roasting turkeys! Rich mince pies!
Cakes of every shape and size!
Santa, though they're fond of you,
Christmas needs us housewives, too!
CHAPTER LIII
HARRY AND ALICE RETURN
ftTTTHO can that be?" said
VV Bettina, laying down
her napkin. "Someone is at the
door, Bob, I think. I wonder
why he doesn't ring?"
"Hello!" said Bob, throwing
open the door. "Why, Bettina!
It's Alice and Harry ! When did
you get home?"
"We're on our way home
now," said Harry, as he set
down the suitcases he was holding. "Say, these are heavy!
We thought we'd stop in for a minute to rest."
"Welcome home !" said Bettina. "Just think, we don't even
know yet where you went for your wedding trip, though we
suspected California."
"California it was," said Alice, "along with all the other
recent brides and grooms. We escaped any particular notice ;
there were so many of us. It was rather a relief, though."
"Have you had your dinner?" asked Bettina, a little em-
barrassed at the thought of the "dinner for two" that she
and Bob were just finishing. There was certainly not enough
left for another person, not to suggest two. But then, of
course there was her ample emergency shelf.
"We had our dinner on the diner," said Harry, "or we
shouldn't have dared to stop at this hour."
"Do come on out to the kitchen," said Bettina. "Bob is
175
176 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
about to make some delicious sour cream candy, aren't you,
Bob? Surely that is a splendid way to entertain a newly
returned bride and groom."
"Fine !" said Harry, "though we can't stay long. We must
hie to our own apartment and get rid of the dust of travel.
We're looking forward to the time when we can return some
of your hospitality. I shall learn to make even better candy
than Bob's !"
For dinner that night Bettina had :
Pork Chops with Sweet Potatoes
Apple Sauce
Bread Butter
Perfection Salad Salad Dressing
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Pork Chops with Sweet Potatoes (Two portions)
2 sweet potatoes J4 t-paprika
I t-salt 2 chops
1/3 C-boiling water
Pare sweet potatoes, add salt and place in the bottom of a
small roasting pan. Wipe pork chops and place on top of the
potatoes. Place the pan, uncovered, on the top shelf of a hot
oven in order to brown the chops. Brown on one side and
then turn gently and brown on the other. Sprinkle with a
little salt and paprika, and add one-third of a cup of boiling
water. Cover, and bake\ one hour, or until the potatoes are
done. Baste frequently.
Perfection Salad (Three portions)
1 T-granulated gelatin 4 T-sugar
4 T-cold water x/2 t-salt
4 T-vinegar ^ 2/3 C-diced celery
I T-lemon juice J/2 C-shredded cabbage
I C-boiling water 1 green pepper, chopped
2 T-pimento, cut fine
Add the cold water to the gelatin, and let it stand for five
minutes. Add the boiling water. When thoroughly dissolved
add the vinegar, salt, lemon juice and sugar. Mix well. Add
With Bettinas Best Recipes 177
the celery, cabbage, green pepper and pimento when the jelly
begins to set. Pour into a mould which has been dipped in
cold water. Allow to set in a very cold place for one hour.
Serve with salad dressing.
Sour Cream Candy (Six portions)
2 C-brown sugar i t-vanilla
y2 C-sour cream or l/2 C-sour milk plus I T-butter
Y^ t-cream of tartar
Mix the sugar, cream of tartar and the sour cream or milk.
Cook until a soft ball is formed when dropped in cold water.
Remove from the fire and allow to cool. Beat until creamy
and place in a well-buttered pan.
CHAPTER LIV
SOME OF BETTINA'S CHRISTMAS PLANS
*f~pO-NIGHT," said Bettina at the dinner table, "I expect
A to finish three Christmas gifts — one for Alice, one for
Mary and one for Eleanor. Now aren't you curious to know
what I've been making?"
"Curiosity is no name for it," said Bob, "but I'm even more
curious to know what particular thing it is that makes this
ham so tender. Is it baked? Anyhow, it's the best I have
ever eaten."
"Thank you," said Bettina, "but you always say that about
sliced ham, no matter how it is cooked. But this is a little
different. It is baked in milk."
"Great, anyhow," said Bob. "Now tell me about your con-
spiracy with Santa Claus."
"Well, I am making for Alice an indexed set of recipes — a
card index. All the recipes are just for two, and they are all
tried and true."
"Just for two,
Tried and true —
Sent, with Betty's love, to you."
echoed Bob. "You can write that on the card that goes
with it."
"I shall have you think what to say on all the gifts, Bob. I
must show you the box of cards. It is only a correspondence-
card box, with the white cards to fit, but I'm sure that Alice
will like her new cook book. Then for Mary and Eleanor I
178
With Bettina's Best Recipes 179
have made card-table covers. Mary's is of white Indian head
— just a square of it, bound with white tap and with white
tape at the corners for tying it to the table. It is to have a
white monogram. Eleanor's is linen-colored and is bound in
green with a green monogram. Hers is finished and I shall
finish Mary's this evening — that is, if you will read to me while
I work !"
"Hurray !" said Bob. "What shall I read ? Mark Twain ?"
For dinner that night they had :
Baked Ham Baked Potatoes
Corn Bread Butter
Cranberry Sauce
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Baked Ham (Three portions)
2/3 lb. slice of ham i C-milk
one inch thick i T-flour
1 T-\vater
Cover the ham with boiling water and let it stand ten min-
utes. Remove from the pan, and place the ham in a pan just
large enough to hold it. Cover with the milk. Place in a
moderate oven and bake thirty minutes. More milk may be
added if necessary. When the ham is done, add more liquid
(enough to make one-half a cup). Mix flour with water.
Add the hot milk to this slowly. Heat and cook one minute.
Serve with the ham.
Corn Bread (Three portions)
y2 C-corn meal y2 t-salt
2/3 C-flour 1 egg-yolk
3 T-sugar 2/3 C-milk
2 t-baking powder 1 T-melted butter
Mix the corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt
thoroughly. Add the egg-yolk and milk, and beat two min-
utes. Add the melted butter. Mix well. Pour into a well
buttered square cake pan. Bake in a moderate oven twenty
minutes.
180 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Cranberry Sauce (Four portions)
I qt. cranberries 2 C-sugar
2 C-water
Look over and wash the cranberries. Cook them in the
water until they are soft and the skins are broken. Remove
from the fire, add the sugar and stir well. Cook three min-
utes. Pour into a mould which has been dipped in cold water.
CHAPTER LV
MORE OF BET-TINA'S CHRISTMAS SHOPPING
if "DOB, said Bettina, as she served the plum pudding,
■*-J "Christmas is in the very air these days!"
"Did the Christmas spirit inspire this plum pudding?" said
he. "Blessings on the head of Santa Claus! But why your
outburst?"
"Because today I went shopping in earnest! I bought the
very things that seem most Christmassy : tissue paper, white
and green, gold cord, a ball of red twine, Santa Claus and
holly stickers, and the cards to tie to the packages. I love to
wrap up Christmas things !"
"And are most of your gifts ready to be wrapped?"
"No, not all, for some of them can't be made till the last
minute. For instance, I thought and thought about Uncle
Eric's gift ! I want so much to please him, but he has every-
thing that money can buy except perhaps a cook that suits
him. Finally I decided to send1 him a box containing a jar of
spiced peaches, a jar of Russian dressing, a little round fruit
cake, and a box of fudge. The things will all be wrapped
with tissue paper, and gold cord and holly "
"Lucky Uncle Eric!" sighed Bob. "I wish Santa Claus
would bring me a Christmas box like that — fruit cake and
spiced peaches and Russian dressing "
"Maybe he will if you're very good !" laughed Bettina. "If
you eat everything your cook sets before you."
"Tell me sometHing hard to do!" said Bob, with enthusi-
asm. For dinner that night they had :
181
182 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Escalloped Eggs and Cheese
Baked Potatoes Current Jelly
Rolls
Plum Pudding with Yellow Sauce
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Escalloped Eggs with Cheese (Three portions)
3 hard-cooked eggs I C-soft bread crumbs
2 T-butter ]/2 C-cheese, cut fine
2 T-flour i t-salt
I C-milk i t-parsley
Melt the butter, add the flour and mix well. Gradually add
the milk. Cook one minute, add the cheese and the eggs cut
in slices. Add the parsley and the salt. Place one-half the
crumbs in the bottom of a well-buttered baking dish, add the
egg mixture and cover with the remaining crumbs. Dot with
butter, and brown in a moderate oven.
Bettina's Plum Pudding (Four portions)
I C-fresh bread crumbs I t-baking powder
% C-suet, chopped fine Y\ C-molasses
y2 t-soda i egg
Yz t-ground cloves 1/3 C-milk
y2 t-ground cinnamon 4 T-raisins
% t-salt 4 T-nuts
Mix the bread crumbs, suet, soda, cloves, cinnamon, salt
and baking powder. Add the raisins cut fine, and the nuts.
Break the egg into the molasses, beat well, and add the milk.
Mix with the first ingredients. Stir and mix thoroughly. Fill
a well-buttered pudding mould one-half full. Steam one and a
half hours, and serve with yellow sauce.
Yellow Sauce (Four portions)
1 egg 1 T-milk
l/i C-powdered sugar T/2 t-vanilla
Beat the egg white until stiff and dry. Add the yolk and
beat one minute. Add the powdered sugar and continue beat-
ing. Add the milk gradually and the vanilla. Continue beat-
ing: for one minute. Serve at once over a hot pudding.
CHAPTER LVI
CHRISTMAS GIFTS
f f O PEAKING of Christmas gifts," said Charlotte, "wouldn't
^ anyone be delighted to receive a little jar of your Rus-
sian dressing, Bettina?"
"I'm sure I'd like it !" said Frank Dixon. "Much better than
a pink necktie or a white gift book called 'Thoughts at Christ-
mas-Tide !' "
"Mary Owen makes candied orange peel for all of her
friends," said Bettina, "and I think that is so nice, for hers
is delicious ! She saves candy boxes through the year, and all
of her close friends receive the same gift with Mary's card.
We all know what to expect from her, and we are all delighted,
too. And you see she doesn't have to worry over different
gifts for each one. I do think Christmas is growing more
sensible, don't you?"
"My sister in South Carolina sends out her Christmas gifts
a few weeks early," said Frank. "She sends boxes of mistle-
toe to everyone. They seem to be welcome, too. By the way,
Bob, did you and Bettina decide on your Christmas cards ?"
"Yes," said Bob, "and they are partly ready. But we are
waiting to get a little picture of the bungalow with snow on
the roof — a winter picture seems most appropriate — and the
snow isn't forthcoming! The weather man seems to be all
upset this year."
"Charlotte has been making some small calendars to send
out," said Frank. "She has used her kodak pictures, and I'm
18S
184 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
afraid they're mostly of me ! I don't know what some of my
friends will say when they see me with an apron around my
neck, seeding cherries !"
"They'll be surprised, anyhow," said Charlotte. "I rather
like that picture myself !"
For dinner that night Bettina served :
Escalloped Oysters Baked Potatoes
Head Lettuce Russian Dressing
Baking Powder Biscuits Apple Jelly
Prune Whip Cream
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Escalloped Oysters (Four portions)
2 C-oysters I t-salt
2 C-cracker crumbs lA t-pepper
3 T-melted butter il/2 C-milk
Look over the oysters carefully and remove any particles
of shell. To the melted butter add salt, pepper and cracker
crumbs. Place a layer of crumbs in the bottom of a well
buttered baking dish, and add the oysters and more crumbs
until the dish is filled. Pour the milk over the oysters and
crackers. Bake twenty minutes in a moderate oven.
Russian Dressing (Four portions)
I C-salad dressing l/2 t-paprika
I t-chopped pimento lA t-salt
I t-chopped green pepper l/2 C-olive oil
i t-vinegar l/2 C-chili sauce
To the cup of salad dressing, add the oil, chili sauce, season-
ings, vinegar and finely chopped vegetables. Beat two minutes.
Pour over head lettuce.
Prune Whip (Four portions)
1/3 lb. prunes 1 T-lemon juice
3 egg-whites x/2 C-sugar
Look over and wash the prunes. Soak for three hours in
With Bettina's Best Recipes 185
cold water. Cook until soft. Rub through a strainer, and
add the sugar and lemon juice. Cook this mixture for five
minutes. Beat the egg whites until very stiff, and add the
prunes when cold. Pile lightly into a buttered baking dish
and bake twenty minutes in a slow oven. Serve with cream.
CHAPTER LVII
A CHRISTMAS SHOWER
** T^\EAR Bettina," wrote Polly, "somehow I never do like
■*-^ to write letters — certainly not at this busiest time of
the year! — but I simply must tell you about a luncheon that
Elizabeth Carter and I gave the other day for one of our
holiday brides. (Angeline Carey; do you remember her? A
dear girl — rather quiet, but with plenty of good common
sense.)
"We had a large Christmas table (aren't they simple and
effective?), with a Christmas tree in the center, strung with
tiny electric lights, and hung with tinsel and ornaments.
Strings of red Christmas bells stretched from the chandelier
above the table to the four corners. The favors at each place
were several kinds, — Santas, little Christmas trees, snow men
and sleds, all of them concealing at their bases the boxes hold-
ing the salted nuts. The place-cards were simply Christmas
cards.
"Before the guest of honor stood a small Santa, larger,
however, than any of the other Santas, and in his hands were
the ends of twenty or more narrow green ribbons, each lead-
ing to a separate shower-package at the base of the tree. These
packages (it was a miscellaneous shower) made an interest-
ing-looking heap, but we didn't ask Angeline to open them
until we had reached the salad course. Then she drew each
one toward her by the end of a ribbon, opened it, and read
the verse on the gift. You have no idea how clever some of
186
With Bettinas Best Recipes 187
the gifts and verses were ! Margaret McLaughlin — do you
remember her? — had dressed a dishmop in two tea towels,
making the funniest old woman ! This she introduced as
Bridget, Angeline's cook-to-be ! One of the girls who sketches
cleverly had illustrated her card with pictures of Angeline in
her kitchen.
"But I am forgetting our table decorations ! We had fur-
nished four rooms for Angeline, doll size, and the furniture
of each was grouped along the table. Besides the living room,
bedroom, dining room and kitchen, we presented Angeline and
Dean with an auto (in miniature, of course), a cow, a horse,
several ducks and chickens, a ferocious dog and a sleepy cat.
Weren't we good to them ? And lo and behold ! beside the
auto stood Dean himself, disguised as a little china kewpie
man ; while Angeline, always a lady, stood gracefully in the
living room and refused to help him with his menial tasks,
or to assist Nora, who was hanging out the clothes in the back
yard. Angeline was a kewpie, dressed in style.
"We had the greatest fun finding and arranging these deco-
rations ! And now I must tell you about the luncheon itself.
I'm even enclosing our recipes, for I know you'll be inter-
ested. . . ."
"Hello, there, Bettina !" called Bob at this moment, coming
in with a rush, "is dinner ready? What do you suppose I've
done? I've absolutely forgotten to send a Christmas gift to
Aunt Elizabeth, and I know she'll feel hurt. Will you go
with me after dinner to get it ?"
Polly's luncheon menu was as follows :
A CHRISTMAS SHOWER
Grapefruit with Maraschino Cherries
Chicken Croquettes Candied Sweet Potatoes
Creamed Peas
Light Rolls Butter
Cranberry Jelly
Vegetable Salad Salad Dressing
Santa Claus Sandwiches
Chocolate Ice Cream a la Tannenbaum
Christmas White Cake
Salted Nuts Coffee Candy Canes
188 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
"I wish, Bettina," Polly's letter continued, "that you might
have seen the cunning sandwiches that we served with the
salad. They were cut with a star-shaped cooky cutter, and
on each one was perched a tiny Santa Claus. The sandwiches
were arranged on a tray decorated with Christmas tree
branches.
"And now comes the dessert. The chocolate ice cream was
served in small flower pots lined with waxed paper, and in
each flower pot grew a miniature Christmas tree. Around the
base of the tree, whipped cream was heaped to represent snow.
They were really very cunning.
"Served with the ice cream was a large round white cake
decorated very elaborately with icing bells and holly. On the
top was placed a real candy bell, large and red. This cake
was carried in to Angeline to cut. Around the base, inside
the cake, were twenty tiny favors wrapped in waxed paper.
They were of all sorts : pipes, canoes, flat irons, animals, birds,
many things, but all very tiny. Narrow white bows tied on
each favor indicated its position in the cake so that the pieces
could be cut to give each guest a favor, Angeline cut her
piece first and drew her favor by pulling the little white rib-
bon. It was really great fun drawing and unwrapping the
favors, and the girls tried to interpret the meaning of each.
Mary Katherine, Angeline's younger sister, drew the ring, and
delightedly proclaimed that she would be the next bride. At
this the girls looked a little doubtful, for at the table were no
less than six engaged girls besides Angeline. Mary Katherine
may fool them — who knows? — but I hope not, for she is far
too young and silly to 'settle down' for many years.
"With the coffee we served striped candy canes.
"Well, Betty, I believe I've told you everything about our
Christmas luncheon. Do write me soon again, for I love to
get your letters. Stir Bob up to write occasionally; he has
forgotten his sister — now that he has a wife.
"Yours always,
"Polly."
With Bettina's Best Recipes ISO
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Chicken Croquettes (Twenty-five croquettes)
A 3-lb. chicken, cooked
2 t-salt
and cut fine
i C-chicken fat
I lb. lean veal, cooked
]/2 C-flour
and cut fine
i T-salt
4 T-chopped green pep-
2 C-milk
per
2 eggs
J4 t-paprika
3 T-water
3 C-cracker crumbs
Melt the chicken fat. Add the flour and salt and mix well.
Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly. When the mix-
ture gets thick and creamy, allow it to cook, with an asbestos
mat under the pan, for five minutes. This cooks the flour
thoroughly. Beat one minute to make it creamy. Add the
chicken, veal, green pepper, paprika and salt. Allow the mix-
ture to cool. Take one tablespoon of the cooled mixture, and
dip in the beaten egg to which the water has been added. Dip
in the crumbs and shape any desired shape, preferably conical.
Allow the croquettes to stand at least one hour before frying.
Fry in deep fat and drain on brown paper. Keep hot in the
oven until serving.
Vegetable Salad (Twenty portions)
io tomatoes H C-green pepper, cut in strips
2 t-salt 20 pieces of lettuce
I t-paprika 2 C-salad dressing
i C-cottage cheese
i C-pimentoes, cut in strips ^4 C-oil from the canned pimento
Yz C-whipped cream
Arrange the lettuce leaves (washed) on salad plates. Place
one slice of tomato, two slices of pimento and two slices of
green pepper on each. Sprinkle the vegetables with pepper
and salt. Add two teaspoons of cottage cheese. Place one
teaspoon of salad dressing on each portion.
To prepare the salad dressing, mix boiled dressing and
pimento oil together and then add the whipped cream. Mix
well, and pile attractively on the salad.
CHAPTER LVIII
BOB'S CHRISTMAS GIFT TO BETTINA
BOB had walked home from the office through the falling
snow — and it was no short distance — with thought for
neither snow nor distance. He was distinctly worried, — Christ-
mas only two weeks off, the first Christmas since he and Bettina
had been married, and as yet he had no idea what sort of a
Christmas gift he ought to purchase for his wife. What did
she need? Unfortunately he had heard her say only a few
days ago that she didn't need a thing. What did she secretly
long for? A glass baking dish! Shucks, what an unromantic
present ! Surely Bettina had been teasing him when she men-
tioned such a prosy gift as that ! Well, if he didn't have some
inspiration by the day before Christmas there would be noth-
ing to do but get her violets, or candy, or perhaps some silly
book that she didn't want.
"Hello, Bob !" said a voice almost at his feet.
"Say Mister Bob, Billy," another voice corrected severely.
"Hello, Jacky! Good evening, Marjorie! Coasting good?"
"Oh, pretty good. You don't know what we've got at our
house!"
"Four Angora kittens !" interrupted Marjorie eagerly, be-
fore Bob had a chance to guess. "Four whole kittens. Can't
see a thing, though, but they'll learn after a while! We're
going to sell three of 'em, and keep one, and "
"See here, Marjorie!" exclaimed Bob. "I'd like to buy one
myself, for a Christmas present to some one ! How about
it? You ask your mother to save one for me — I'll stop in to-
morrow morning and talk to her about it. Could you take
care of it for me till Christmas morning?"
190
With Bettina' s Best Recipes 191
And Bob strode on with a happy grin on his face. Wouldn't
Bettina laugh at the idea of an Angora kitten !
For dinner that night Bettina served:
Beef Steak Baked Potatoes
Cauliflower in Cream Cranberry Jelly Moulds
Bread Butter
Burnt Sugar Cake Confectioner's Icing
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Cranberry Jelly (Three portions)
2 C-cranberries 2/3 C-water
Y\ C-sugar
Look over the cranberries, removing any stems and soft
berries. Add the water and cook until the skins have burst
and all the berries are soft. Press through a strainer, remov-
ing all the pulp. Add the sugar to the pulp, and cook until
the mixture is thick, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
When the jelly stands up on a plate it is done. Pour into
moulds (preferably of china or glass) which have been wet
with cold water.
Burnt Sugar Cake (Sixteen pieces)
y2 C-butter 2^ C-flour
1^2 C-sugar 4 t-baking powder
2 eggs 1 C-boiling water
*4 t-salt 1 t-vanilla
Caramelize two-thirds of a cup of sugar. When the sugar
is melted and reaches the light brown or the "caramel" stage,
add the water. Cook until the sugar is thoroughly dissolved
in the water. Allow it to cool. Cream the butter, add the
rest of the uncooked sugar, and then add the egg-yolks. Mix
well. Add the salt, flour, baking-powder, vanilla and the
cooled liquid. Beat two minutes and add the egg-whites
stiffly beaten. Pour into two pans prepared with buttered
paper. Bake twenty-five minutes in a moderate oven. Ice
with confectioner's icing.
JANUARY
Simpler meals and wiser buying,
More of planning, — less of hurry, -
More of smiling, — less of sighing,
More of fun, and less of worry,
In this New Year's Resolution,
Trouble finds a swift solution.
CHAPTER LIX
ALICE COMES TO LUNCHEON
UT DO love to cook!" ex-
■■- claimed Alice enthusiastic-
ally.
"And we have had such de-
licious meals since we began to
keep house, if I do say it ! But
oh, the bills, the bills ! Bettina,
isn't it terrible? But you can't
get any meal at all without pay-
ing for it, can you? I really do
dread having Harry get the first
month's grocery bill, though."
"You ought not to have to say that, Alice," said Bettina,
laughing nevertheless. "Why don't you have an allowance,
and pay the grocery bill yourself ?"
"Because I know I could never manage to pay it," said
Alice, making a little face. "I do love to have perfect little
meals and cooking is such fun, but you just can't have things
right without having them expensive; I've found that out.
Last night we had a simple enough dinner — a very good steak
with French fried potatoes and creamed asparagus on toast.
Then a fruit salad with mayonnaise and steamed suet pudding
and coffee. Harry said everything was perfect, but "
"I'm sure it was, Alice. You are so clever at everything
193
194 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
you do. But wasn't that expensive for just a home dinner
for two? Steak and creamed asparagus! And mayonnaise
is so expensive ! Then think of the gas you use, too I"
"I didn't think of the gas," said Alice ruefully. "I thought
of Harry's likes, and of variety, and of a meal that balanced
well. But not much about economy. I'll have to consult you,
Bettina. I'll tell you: Couldn't I plan my menus ahead for
a week, and bring them over to you to criticise? That would
be fun, and I'm sure you could teach me a great deal."
"I'd love to have you, Alice," smiled Bettina.
For luncheon Bettina served :
Chicken Loaf Creamed Potatoes
Baking Powder Biscuits Cranberry Jelly
Caramel Custard Whipped Cream
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Chicken Loaf (Two portions)
y2 C-cooked chicken J/& t-celery salt
y2 C-ground, cooked veal i t-chopped parsley
x/2 C-soft bread crumbs I egg
y2 t-salt y2 C-milk
Mix the chicken, veal and bread crumbs. Add the salt,
celery salt, parsley, egg and milk. Mix thoroughly. Bake in
a well-buttered pan thirty minutes in a moderate oven.
Caramel Custard (Two portions)
I C-milk 4 T-sugar
3 egg % t-salt
J4 t-vanilla
Melt the sugar to a light brown syrup in a sauce pan over
a hot fire, add the milk and cook until free from lumps. Beat
With Bettinas Best Recipes 195
the egg, sugar, salt and vanilla, and pour the liquid slowly
into the egg mixture. Pour into buttered moulds. Set the
moulds in a pan of hot water and bake in a moderate oven until
the custard is firm (about forty minutes) . Do not let the water
in the pan reach the boiling point during the process of baking.
CHAPTER LX
RUTH STAYS TO DINNER
** OEE, Ruth, it's snowing harder — a perfect blizzard. That
^ means that you'll have to stay to dinner."
"I'm only too glad to find an excuse, Bettina, but you must
remember that I'll have to get back some time, and I suppose
that now is best."
"Well, Bob will take you after dinner. See, I've put on a
place for you."
"That's fine, Bettina, and I suppose I may as well stay. I've
been anxious to ask you what you were putting in the oven
just as I came in."
"A dish of tomatoes, cheese and rice baked together ; Bob is
fond of it. You know I almost always plan to have two or
more oven dishes if I am using the oven at all, and tonight I
was making baked veal steak."
"I learned something new yesterday, Bettina, that I have
been anxious to tell you. Mother was preparing cabbage for
cold slaw (she always chops it, you know), and it suddenly
occurred to her that she might easily use the large meat
grinder. So she did, and the slaw was delicious. I would
have supposed that the juice would be pressed out in the
grinding, but it wasn't."
"I must remember that. I suppose that other people may
have thought of it, but I never have, and I'm glad to know
that it works so well."
"I believe I hear Bob, Bettina. He must be cold, for it is
snowing and blowing harder every minute."
196
With Bettinas Best Recipes 197
"Well, I'm glad I started the fire in the fireplace. There's
nothing like an open fire."
For dinner that night Bettina served :
Baked Veal Steak
Baked Tomato, Cheese and Rice
Bread Butter
Tapioca and Date Pudding Cream
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Baked Veal Steak (Three portions)
I slice of veal steak (three- I t-salt
fourths of a pound, one- % t-paprika
half inch thick 2 T-bacon fat
3 T-flour 2 T-water
Wipe the veal and cut off any rind. Mix the flour, salt and
paprika. Roll the steak thoroughly in this mixture. Place the
bacon fat in the frying-pan and when hot add the meat and
brown thoroughly on both sides. Place the drippings and the
meat in a small baking pan. Add the water, cover, and place
in the oven. Cook one hour. More water may be added if
necessary.
Baked Tomato, Cheese and Rice (Three portions)
1 C-cooked rice % t-paprika
1/3 C-tomatoes 1 T-flour
4 T-cheese, cut fine J/2 C-milk
1 T-pimento 1 T-melted butter
1 t-salt % C-cracker or bread crumbs
Mix the rice and flour, and add the tomatoes, cheese, salt and
paprika. Add the milk. Pour into a well-buttered baking
dish. Melt the butter and add the crumbs. Spread the but-
tered crumbs on the rice mixture. Bake in a moderate oven
for twenty-five minutes.
Tapioca and Date Pudding (Three portions)
4 T-tapioca 8 dates, cut fine
% t-salt 1 T-lemon juice
2 T-cold water 1 egg-yolk
1 C-boiling water 1 egg-white
2 T-sugar 1 t-vanilla
198 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Soak the tapioca in cold water for ten minutes. Add the
salt and boiling water and cook in a double boiler until trans-
parent. (About twenty minutes.) Add the sugar and the
dates cut fine, the lemon juice, egg-yolk and vanilla. Remove
from the fire and add the stiffly beaten egg-white. Pile the
mixture lightly in glass dishes and serve cold.
CHAPTER LXI
HOW BETTINA MADE CANDY
ff TRAN over this morning," said Alice to Bettina, "to get
-*- your candy recipes. That was such delicious Christmas
candy that you gave Harry ! Wasn't it a great deal of work
to make so much at a time? Perhaps I can't manage it, but
I'd like to make a box of it for Harry's brother ; it will be his
birthday in a few days."
"It is very easy to make candy for Christmas boxes," said
Bettina. "That is, it is no harder to make a large quantity
than to fill one box. Bob helped me one evening, and we made
four kinds at once. I had already stuffed some dates and
made some candied orange peel, so you see when the candy
was made, it was fun to fill the boxes with a variety of things.
I always save boxes throughout the year for Christmas candy,
and then I fill them all at once. Of course, until this year I
didn't have Bob to help me; he enjoys it, you know, and two
people can make it so much more quickly than one."
"Next year," said Alice, "I think I shall make Christmas
candy — a quantity of it, so that I can put a box of it in every
family box that I send. Meanwhile, I'll practise and ex-
periment, and perhaps I can improve on the good old recipes,
or think of clever ways of arranging and wrapping. Now will
you let me write down some of your best recipes? I'll try
them for Harry's brother."
The candies that Bettina made were :
Chocolate Fudge White Fudge
Peanut Brittle Peanut Fondant
199
200 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Chocolate Fudge (One pound)
2 C-sugar 2 squares or two ounces
I C-sugar, "C" of chocolate
Y\ t-cream of tartar i C-milk
I T-butter I t-vanilla
Mix the ingredients in order named, and cook until a soft
ball is formed when a little of the candy is dropped in a glass
of cold water. Remove from the fire and allow to cool. Do
not stir while cooling. When cool, beat until creamy, add
vanilla and pour into a well-buttered pan. Make white fudge
and pour on top. When cool cut into squares.
White Fudge (one pound)
3 C-sugar 1/3 t-cream of tartar
y2 C-milk 1 T-butter
1 t-vanilla
Mix and cook the same as chocolate fudge.
Bettina's Peanut Fondant (One and one-half pound)
2 C-"C" sugar 1 T-butter
y2 C-milk 2/3 C-roasted, shelled peanuts
% t-cream of tartar J4 t-vanilla
Cook the "C" sugar, milk, cream of tartar and butter until
a soft ball is formed in cold water. Remove from the fire
and allow it to cool. Beat until thick and creamy and add
the nuts and vanilla. Shape into a loaf two inches thick and
two inches wide. When cool and hard enough to cut, slice
into one-fourth inch slices. Wrap in waxed paper and pack
in boxes.
CHAPTER LXII
RUTH'S PLANS
** A ND so> Bettina," said Ruth, sitting down on the high
■**■ stool in Bettina's neat little kitchen, "Fred says we
will begin the house early in the spring — as early as possible —
and be married in May or June."
"What perfectly splendid news!" said Bettina. "I'm just
as glad as I can be !"
"We've waited so long," said Ruth, wistfully. "Of course,
if it hadn't been for the war — it did interfere so with business,
you know — we would have been married last spring."
"I know," said Bettina, sympathetically, "but you'll be all
the happier because you have waited."
"I'll want you to help me a great deal with my plans," said
Ruth. "I've had time to do lots of sewing, of course, but I
haven't thought anything about the wedding except that it will
be a quiet one. And I want to ask you so much about house
furnishings — curtains, and all that."
"I'd love to help!" cried Bettina with enthusiasm. "There
isn't anything that is such fun. Oh, Ruth !"
"Gracious me ! What?" cried Ruth, for Bettina had jumped
up suddenly.
"Poor Ruth," laughed Bettina, "I didn't mean to frighten
you. I forgot my cake, that was all, and I was afraid it had
burned. But it hasn't. A minute longer though — you know a
chocolate cake does burn so easily. But it's all right. How-
ever, you must admit that I did pretty well not to burn it
while I was listening to wedding plans !"
201
202 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
That night Bettina served for dinner :
Swiss Steak Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Creamed Cauliflower
Bread Butter
Chocolate Nougat Cake
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Swiss Steak (Three portions)
i lb. of round
steak
two-thirds
%
t-pepper
of an inch thick
lA
C-water
5 T-flour
i
T-onion
i bay leaf
2
cloves
lA t-salt
I
T-bacon fat
Wipe the steak with a damp cloth, trim the edges to remove
any gristle, and pound the flour into the meat, using a side
nf a heavy plate for the pounding. This breaks up the ten-
dons of the meat. Place the bacon fat in a frying-pan and
when hot, add the meat. Brown thoroughly on each side.
Lower the flame. Add the bay leaf, salt, pepper, onion and
water. Cover with a lid and allow to cook slowly for one
and a half hours. More water may be needed if the gravy
boils down. Pour the gravy over the meat when serving. This
recipe is good for the fireless.
Mashed Sweet Potatoes (Two portions)
3 good-sized sweet H t-salt
potatoes i T-butter
2 C-water 2 T-milk
Y\ t-paprika
Wash the potatoes and remove any bad places. Add the
water, and cook gently until tender. Drain, and peel while
still hot, by holding the potatoes on the end of a fork. Mash
with a spoon or a potato masher, adding the salt, butter, milk
and paprika. Beat one minute. Pile lightly in a buttered
baking dish, and place in a moderate oven about twenty min-
utes until a light brown.
With Bettinas Best Recipes 203
Chocolate Nougat Cake
4
T-butter
i
egg
2/3
C-sugar
y2
C-milk
2
squares of chocolate
i 1/3
C-flour
2
T-sugar
2
t-baking
powder
2
T-water
y2 1-
y2
vanilla
t-soda
i
Cook the two tablespoons of sugar, water and chocolate to-
gether for one minute, stirring constantly. Cream the butter,
add the sugar, the whole egg and the flour, baking powder and
soda sifted together. Add the vanilla. Beat two minutes.
Pour into two square layer-cake pans prepared with waxed
paper. Bake twenty-two minutes in a moderate oven. Choco-
late cakes burn easily and they should be carefully watched
while baking.
Ice with White Mountain Cream Icing.
FEBRUARY.
Cold and snowy February
Does seem slow and trying, very.
Still, a month made gay by Cupid
Never could be wholly stupid.
■ t=a-<(-,
CHAPTER LXIII
A STEAMED PUDDING
f f HP HIS was a splendid din-
ner, Bettina," said Ruth,
as the two of them were carrying
the dishes into the kitchen and
Fred and Bob were deep in con-
versation in the living-room.
"Such a delicious dessert ! Suet
pudding, wasn't it? I couldn't
guess all that was in it."
"Just a steamed fig pudding,
Ruth. The simplest thing in the
world!"
"Simple? But don't you have to use a steamer to make it
in, and isn't that awfully complicated? I've always imagined
so.
"You don't need to use a steamer at all. I steamed this in
my fireless cooker, in a large baking powder can. I filled the
buttered can about two-thirds full, and set it in boiling water
that came less than half way up the side of the can. Of course,
the cover of the can or the mould must be screwed on tight.
And the utensil in which it is steamed must be covered. I
used one of the utensils that fit in the fireless, of course, and I
brought the water to a boil on the stove so that I was sure it
was boiling vigorously when I set it in the cooker on the siz-
zlinz hot stone. You see it is very simple. In fact, I think
steaming anything is very easy, for you don't have to keep
watching it as you would if it were baking in the oven, and
basting it, or changing the heat."
205
206 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
"We haven't a cooker, you know. Could I make a steamed
pudding that same way on the stove?"
"Yes, indeed the very same way. Just set the buttered can
filled two-thirds full in a larger covered utensil holding boil-
ing water. Keep the water boiling all the time."
"I shall certainly try it tomorrow, Bettina!"
For dinner that night Bettina served :
Breaded Veal Creamed Potatoes
Browned Sauce
Spinach with Hard Cooked Eggs
Bread Butter
Spiced Peaches
Fig Pudding Foamy Sauce
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Breaded Veal (Four portions)
1 lb. veal round steak, cut one-half an inch thick
i T-egg (either the white or the yolk)
i T-water
2/3 C-cracker crumbs, or dry bread crumbs
2 T-lard
}4 t-salt
1 T-butter
% t-paprika
Wipe the meat with a damp cloth, and cut into four pieces.
Mix the egg, water, salt and paprika, and dip each piece of
meat into the egg mixture. Roll in the crumbs and pat the
crumbs into the meat. Place the lard in the frying-pan, and
when hot, add the meat. Brown well on one side, and then
turn, allowing the other side to become the same even color.
Lower the flame under the meat, and cook thirty minutes,
keeping the pan covered. When the meat has cooked twenty-
five minutes, add the butter to lend flavor to the lard.
Browned Gravy (Four portions)
1 T-butter y2 t-salt
2 T-flour y2 C-water
YA C-milk
With Bettinas Best Recipes 207
Remove the breaded veal from the pan, and place on a hot
flatter. (Keep in a warm place.) Loosen all the small pieces
of crackers and meat (if there are any) from the bottom of
the pan. If there is no fat left, add butter. Allow the fat to
get hot, and add flour and salt. Mix well with the heated fat,
and allow to brown. Stir constantly, and add the water. Mix
well, and add one-fourth cup of milk. Allow to cook one
minute, stirring constantly. If a thinner sauce is desired, add
another one- fourth of a cup of milk. If a thicker sauce is
desired, allow to cook for two minutes.
Bcttina'B Steamed Fig Pudding (Four portions)
I C-flour ]/2 C-molasses
y2 t-soda y2 C-milk
l/2 t-ginger y2 C-suet, chopped fine
2/3 t-cinnamon 1/3 C-chopped figs
54 t-nutmeg 1/3 C-stoned raisins
l/2 t-lemon extract
Mix the flour, soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and suet.
Add the figs, raisins, molasses and milk. Stir well. Add the
lemon extract. Fill a well-buttered pudding mould two-thirds
full. Steam an hour and a half, with the water boiling. Serve
hot with foamy sauce.
Foamy Sauce (Four portions)
I egg y2 C-hot water
y2 C-sugar 1 T-lemon juice or 1 t-lemon ex-
tract
Beat the egg vigorously. Add the sugar and mix well. Add
the hot water and stir vigorously. Add the lemon juice. Serve,
(This sauce may be reheated if desired.)
CHAPTER LXIV
ON VALENTINE'S DAY
**"D OB, the flowers are lovely!" said Bettina, looking again
■*-' at the brilliant tulips on the dinner table. "They make
this a real valentine dinner, although there is nothing festive
about it. I had intended to plan something special, but I went
to a valentine luncheon at Mary's, and stayed so late "
"A valentine luncheon ? With red hearts cveiywncrc, J sup-
pose ?"
i<v^3, everything heart-shaped, and in red, too, as far as
possible. Mary had twelve guests at one large round table.
Of course, there were strings and strings of red hearts of va-
rious sizes decorating the table — not a very new idea, of
course, but so effective. And everything tasted so good ; cream
of tomato soup, the best stuffed tenderloin with mushroom
sauce (I must find out how that is made), and the best sweet
potato croquettes !"
"Sweet potato croquettes? That's a new one on me!"
"I'll have to try them some time soon. And Mary had peas
in heart-shaped baking powder biscuits — the cunningest you
ever saw ! — heart-shaped date bread sandwiches with her
salad, and heart-shaped ice cream with individual heart cakes."
"That was Valentine's day with a vengeance ; wasn't it ?"
"Yes, but it was lovely, Bob !"
That night Bettina served :
Broiled Steak Baked Potatoes
Macaroni with Tomatoes and Green Peppers
Bread Butter.
Cornstarch Fruit Pudding
Cherry Sauce
Coffee
208
With Bettinas Best Recipes 209
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Macaroni, Tomatoes and Green Peppers (Three portions)
1/3 C-macaroni % t-celery salt
3 C-water % t-onion salt
I t-salt 3 T-cheese, cut fine
1 C-canned tomatoes 2/3 C-meat stock or milk
3 T-chopped green pepper % C-crumbs
YA t-salt 1 T-butter
Boil the water, add the salt. Add the macaroni cut in small
pieces. Boil until tender (about fifteen minutes) and drain.
Butter a baking dish. Add a layer of macaroni, a layer of
tomatoes and some green pepper. Sprinkle with salt, celery
and onion salt. Add the cheese, and continue with the layers
until the dish is full. If available, use meat stock, if not, milk.
Pour the liquid over the mixture. Melt the butter, add the
crumbs and place on the top of the food. Place the dish in a
moderate oven, and allow to bake twenty-five minutes, or until
brown.
Corn Starch Fruit Pudding (Three portions)
y2 C-water _ % t-salt
y2 C-cherry juice 3 T-sugar
3 T-corn starch 1 egg-yolk
1 egg-white
Mix thoroughly the corn starch, sugar and salt. Gradually
add the cold water and then the juice. Cook over hot water
until the mixture becomes quite thick. Add the egg-yolk. Mix
well, cool slightly and add the egg-white stiffly beaten. Pour
into a well-moistened custard mould. Allow to stand for
half an hour or more. Serve with cherry sauce.
Cherry Sauce (Three portions)
y2 C-cherry juice */* t-lemon extract
y2 C-water y8 t-salt
1 T-flour 2 T-sugar
*4 C-cherries, cut fine
Mix the flour, salt and sugar. Add slowly the cherry juice
and water. Cook two minutes. Add the cherries and extract.
Serve hot over the cold pudding.
CHAPTER LXV
WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY PLANS
Hf~^ OOD bran bread," said Bob, reaching for another piece.
^J "I like that recipe," said Bettina, "and it is so easy
to make."
"What have you been doing all day?" Bob asked, "Cook-
ing?"
"No, indeed. Charlotte was here this afternoon and we
made plans for the tea we are going to give at her house on
Washington's birthday. Oh, Bob, we have some of the best
ideas for it ! Our refreshments are to be served from the din-
ing-room table, you know, and our central decoration is to be
a three-cornered black hat filled with artificial red cherries.
Of course we'll have cherry ice, and serve cherries in the tea,
Russian style. The salad will be served in little black three-
cornered hats ; these filled with fruit salad, will be set on the
table and each guest will help herself. The thin bread and
butter sandwiches will be cut in hatchet shape. And — oh, yes,
I forgot the cunningest idea of all ! We'll serve tiny gilt hatch-
ets stuck in tree-trunks of fondant rolled in cocoanut and
toasted brown. Isn't that a clever plan? Charlotte saw it
done once, and says it is very effective."
"It sounds like some party ! And I'll feel especially en-
thusiastic if you don't forget to plan for one guest who won't
appear — or perhaps I should say two, for I know Frank won't
want to be forgotten."
For dinner that night Bob and Bettina had:
Corned Beef au Gratin Baked Tomatoes
Apple Sauce
Gluten Bread Butter
Cream Pie Coffee
210
With Bettinas Best Recipes 211
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Corned Beef au Gratin (Three portions)
V/2 C-milk 2 T-butter
y2 slice of onion I egg
1 piece of celery I t-salt
2 T-flour J4 t-paprika
i C-chopped corned beef
Place the milk, onion and celery over the fire. Allow to get
very hot. Remove from the fire and let stand for ten minutes.
Remove the celery and onion from the milk. Melt the butter,
add the flour. Mix well and slowly add the milk. Cook until
the consistency of white sauce. Add the egg, well beaten, the
salt, paprika, and beef. Pour into well-buttered individual
dishes.
Place in a moderate oven and bake twenty-five minutes. Re-
move from the oven and allow to stand two minutes. Re-
move from the moulds and garnish with parsley.
Baked Tomatoes and Cheese (Three portions)
I C-canned tomatoes J4 C-fresh bread crumbs
y2 t-salt 3 T-cheese, cut fine
J4 t-paprika lA C-cooked celery
i T-butter
Mix the tomatoes, salt, paprika, cheese and celery. Add
half the bread crumbs. Pour into a well-buttered baking dish.
Melt the butter, add the remaining crumbs and place on top
of the mixture. Bake twenty minutes in a moderate oven.
Gluten Bread (Ten slices)
I C-gluten flour 2 T-sugar
V/2 t-baking powder 1/3 C-milk
% t-salt 1/3 C-water
54 C-bran 1 t-melted butter
Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, bran and sugar. Add
the milk and water. Beat vigorously for one minute and
then add the butter. Pour into a well-buttered bread pan and
bake forty minutes in a moderate oven.
CHAPTER LXVI
AN AFTERNOON WITH BETTINA
WHEN Bettina pushed her tea cart into the living-room,
Alice and Ruth laid aside the mending at which they
had been busy.
"What delicious toast, Bettina I" said Alice, taking one bite.
"Why, it has cinnamon on it ! And sugar ! I wondered what
nn. earth you were making that smelled so good, and this is
something new to me l"
"It is cinnamon toast/' said Bettina, "and so easy to make.
I was busy all morning, and didn't have time to make any-
thing but these date kisses for tea, but cinnamon toast can be
made so quickly that I decided to serve it."
"I like orange marmalade, too, Bettina," said Alice. "I
wish I had made some. I have spiced peaches, and a little
jelly, but that is all. Next summer I intend to have a perfect
orgy of canning. Then my cupboard will be even better
stocked than Bettina's — perhaps! I opened a jar of spiced
peaches last evening for dinner, and what do you think ! Harry
ate every peach in the jar ! I had expected them to last sev-
eral days, too."
"I hoped you saved the juice," said Bettina.
"I did, but I don't know why. It seemed too good to throw
away, somehow."
"Have you ever eaten ham cooked in the juice of pickled
peaches ? It's delicious. Just cover the slice of ham with the
juice and cook it in the oven until it is very tender. Then
remove it from the juice and serve it."
"It sounds fine. I'll do it tomorrow."
212
With Bettina's Best Recipes 213
That afternoon Bettina served :
Cinnamon Toast Tea
Orange Marmalade
Date Kisses
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Cinnamon Toast (Six portions)
6 slices of stale bread 1/3 C-powdered sugar
2 T-butter l/2 t-cinnamon
Make a delicate brown toast and butter each slice. Mix the
sugar and cinnamon, and place in a shaker. Shake the de-
sired quantities of sugar and cinnamon over the hot buttered
toast. Keep in a warm place until ready to serve.
Bettina's Date Kisses (One dozen)
I egg-white JA t-baking powder
H t-salt Ya C-chopped dates
Yz C-powdered sugar Y\ C-chopped nut meats
Y* t-lemon extract
Add the salt to the white of an eggy and beat the egg-white
very stiff. Then add the sugar, baking powder, nuts, dates
and lemon extract. Drop from a teaspoon onto a buttered
pan. Bake in a slow oven until delicately browned. (About
twenty-five minutes.)
Orange Marmalade (One pint)
3 oranges y2 grapefruit
2 lemons Sugar
Wash thoroughly the rinds of the fruits. Weigh the fruit,
and slice it evenly. To each pound of fruit, add one quart of
cold water. Let the mixture stand for twenty-four hours.
Cook slowly for one hour. Drain. Weigh the cooked fruit,
and add an equal weight of sugar. Cook with the sugar for
thirty minutes, or until it stiffens slightly when tried on a dish.
Pour into sterilized jelly glasses. When cool seal with hot
paraffin.
CHAPTER LXVII
A WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY TEA
WHEN the tea guests were ushered into Charlotte's din-
ing-room that afternoon, they were delighted with the
table and its red, white and blue decorations. In the center
was a large three-cornered hat made of black paper, and
heaped with artificial red cherries. The cherry ice was tinted
red, and served in sherbet glasses. A large white cake, uncut,
was one of the chief decorations, for halves of red cherries
were placed together on it to represent a bunch of cherries,
while tiny lines of chocolate icing represented the stems.
Bettina poured the tea and placed in each cup a red cherry.
The guests helped themselves to trays, napkins, forks and
spoons, and each took a portion of Washington salad, served
in a small, black, three-cornered hat, lined with waxed paper.
Each took also a rolled sandwich, tied with red, white and blue
ribbon, and a nut bread sandwich in the shape of a hatchet.
The Washington fondant, rolled in cocoanut and toasted to
represent tree trunks, with small gilt hatchets stuck in them,
occasioned great delight. "How did you ever think of it?"
Ruth asked, and Bettina gave Charlotte the credit, though she
in turn disclaimed any originality in the matter.
"One thing is lacking," said Bettina. "Charlotte and I
should be wearing colonial costumes. We did think of it, but
happened to be too busy to make them."
That afternoon Charlotte and Bettina served:
214
With Bettina's Best Recipes 215
George Washington Salad
Rolled Sandwiches Nut Bread Sandwiches
Cherry Ice
Cherry Cake Washington Fondant
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Washington Salad (Twelve portions)
I C-diced pineapple rA C-Brazil nuts, cut fine
I C-marshmallows, cut fine 1^2 C-salad dressing
I C-grapefruit, cut in cubes y2 C-whipped cream
I C-canned seeded white cherries 6 red cherries
Y\ C-filberts 12 tiny silk flags
Mix the pineapple, marshmallows, grapefruit, white cherries
and nuts. Add the salad dressing. Serve immediately. Place
waxed paper in the paper cups of the small, black, three-cor-
nered hats. Place one serving of salad in each cup. Put one
teaspoon of whipped cream on top and half a cherry on that.
Stick a tiny silk American flag into each portion.
Nut Bread for Sandwiches (Twenty-four sandwiches)
2 C-graham flour 2/3 C-sugar
I C-white flour il/2 t-salt
3 t-baking powder y2 C-nut meats, cut fine
1 egg iY2 C-milk
Mix the flours, baking powder, salt, nut meats and sugar.
Break the tgg in the milk and add to the dry ingredients. Mix
thoroughly, pour into a well-buttered bread pan and allow to
rise for twenty minutes. Bake in a moderate oven for fifty
minutes.
Nut Bread Sandwiches
24 pieces bread 2/3 C-butter
When the nut bread is one day old, cut in very thin slices.
Cream the butter and spread one piece of bread carefully with
butter. Place another piece on the top. Press firmly. Make
all the sandwiches in this way. Allow to stand in a cool, damp
place for one hour. Make a paper hatchet pattern. Lay the
pattern on top of each sandwich and with a sharp knife, trace
216 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
around the pattern. Cut through carefully and the sand-
wiches will resemble hatchets. This is not difficult to do and
is very effective.
Washington's Birthday Sandwiches
I loaf of white bread one day old
8 T-butter
2 yards each of red, white and blue ribbon
Cut the bread very thin with a sharp knife. Remove all
crusts. Place a damp cloth around the prepared slices when
very moist, and tender. Spread with butter which has been
creamed with a fork until soft. Roll the sandwiches up care-
fully like a roll of paper. Cut the ribbon into six-inch strips,
and tie around the sandwiches. Place in a bread box to keep
moist. Pile on a plate in log cabin fashion.
CHAPTER LXVIII
ANOTHER OVEN DINNER
BETTINA heard a step on the porch, and quickly laying
aside her kitchen apron, rushed to the door to meet Bob.
Her rather hilarious greeting was checked just in time, at sight
of a tall figure behind him.
"Bettina, this is Mr. MacGregor, of MacGregor & Hopkins,
you know. Mr. MacGregor, my wife, Bettina. I've been try-
ing to get you all afternoon to tell you I was bringing a guest
to dinner and to spend the night. The storm seems to have
affected the lines. "
"Oh, it has ! I've been alone all day ! Haven't talked to a
soul! Welcome, Mr. MacGregor, I planned Bob's particular
kind of a dinner tonight, and it may not suit you at all, but
I'm glad to see you, anyhow."
Mr. MacGregor murmured something dignified but indis-
tinct, as Bob cried out heartily, "Well, it smells good, anyhow,
so I guess you can take a chance ; eh, MacGregor ?"
Bettina had a hazy idea that Mr. MacGregor, of MacGregor
& Hopkins, was somebody very important with whom Bob's
firm did business, and although she knew also that Bob had
know "Mac," as he called him, years before in a way that was
slightly more personal, her manner was rather restrained as
she ushered them into the dining-room a few minutes later.
However, the little meal was so appetizing, and the guest
seemed so frankly appreciative, that conversation soon flowed
freely. Bob's frank comments were sometimes embarrassing,
for instance when he said such things as this:
217
218 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
"Matrimony has taught me a lot, MacGregor ! I've learned
— well, now, you'd never think that all this dinner was cooked
in the oven, would you? Well, it was: baked ham, baked
potatoes, baked apples, and the cakes — Bettina's cakes, I call
'em. You see, my wife thinks of things like that — a good din-
ner and saving gas, too !"
"Oh, Bob !" said Bettina, with a scarlet face.
"You needn't be embarrassed, Bettina, it's so! I was just
telling 'Mac' as we came in, that two can live more cheaply
than one provided the other one is like you — always coaxing
me to add to our bank account. It's growing, too, and I never
could save before I was married !"
The dinner consisted of :
Baked Ham Baked Potatoes
Head Lettuce Roquefort Cheese Dressing
Bread Butter
Baked Apples
Bettina's Cakes
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Bettina's Baked Ham (Three portions)
(Bob calls it "great")
I lb. slice of ham three-fourths of an inch thick
14 cloves y2 C-water
y2 C-vinegar 2 T-sugar
2 t-mustard
Remove the rind from ham. Stick the cloves into both sides.
Place in a pan just the size of the meat. Pour the vinegar,
water, sugar and mustard (well mixed) over the ham. Baste
frequently. Bake in moderate oven until crisp and tender
(about forty-five minutes).
Head Lettuce with Roquefort Cheese Dressing (Three portions)
1 head of lettuce lA t-pepper
y2 t-salt Y\ C-Roquefort cheese
3 T-oil 1 T-vinegar
Cream the cheese, add salt, pepper and vinegar. Add the
oil gradually. Mix well, shake thoroughly. Pour over the let-
tuce and serve.
With Bettinas Best Recipes 219
Baked Apples (Four portions)
4 apples I t-cinnamon
6 T-brown sugar 4 marshmallows
4 T-granulated sugar 1 t-butter
Wash and core apples of uniform size. Mix the sugar and
cinnamon together. Fill the apples. Press a marshmallow
in each apple also. Dot the top with a piece of butter. Place
the apples in a pan, add the remaining sugar, cover the bottom
with water, and bake until tender (twenty-five to thirty min-
utes), basting often. Serve hot or cold.
Bettina's Cakes (Eight cakes)
1 C-flour l/2 t-soda
1/2 t-cinnamon Ya, t-baking powder
54 t-powdered cloves 14 t-salt
1/3 C-sugar 1 egg
2 T-melted butter 1/3 C-sour milk
Mix and sift the dry ingredients. Add the egg and the sour
milk. Beat two minutes. Add the melted butter; beat one
minute. Fill well-buttered muffin pans one-half full. Bake
in a moderate oven twenty minutes.
CHAPTER LXIX
BOB MAKES POP-OVERS
"DETTINA was busily setting the table in the dining-room
■*-* when Bob appeared.
"Oh, Bettina," said he in a disappointed tone, "why not eat
in the breakfast alcove? I'd like to show MacGregor how
much fun we have every morning."
"Won't he think we're being too informal ?"
"I want him to think us informal. The trouble with him
is that he doesn't know that any simple brand of happiness
exists. His life is too complex. Of course we're not exactly
primitive — with our electric percolator and toaster "
"Sorry, Bob, but you can't use the toaster this morning ; I'm
about to stir up some pop-overs."
"Well, I'll forgive you for taking away my toy, inasmuch
as I do like pop-overs. Let me help you with them, Bettina;
this is one place where you can use my strong right arm."
"Yes, indeed I can, Bob. I'll never forget those splendid
pop-overs that you made the first time you ever tried. They
look simple, but not very many people can make good ones.
The secret of it is all in the beating," said she, as she stirred
up the smooth paste, "and then in having the gem pans and
the oven very hot."
"Well, these'll be good ones then," said Bob, as he set about
his task. "You light the oven, Betty, and put the gem pans in
it, and then before you have changed things from the dining-
room to the alcove, I'll have these pop-overs popping away
just as they ought to do !"
The percolator was bubbling and the pop-overs were nearly
done when they heard Mr. MacGregor's step. "He's exactly
220
With Bettina's Best Recipes 221
on time," chuckled Bob. "That's the kind of a methodical fel-
low he is in everything."
"Well, there's no time when promptness is more appreciated
than at meal-time," said Betty, decidedly. "I like him."
"Come on out here!" called Bob, cheerfully. "This is the
place in which we begin the day ! We'll show you the kind of
a breakfast that'll put some romance into your staid old head.
I made the pop-overs myself, and I know they're the best you
ever saw — likewise the biggest — and they'll soon be the best
you've ever eaten !"
When Bob had finished removing the pop-overs from their
pans, the two men took their places at the table to the merry
tune of the sizzling bacon Bettina was broiling.
"I never entertained a stranger so informally before," said
she.
"And I was never such a comfortable guest as I am at this
minute," said Mr. MacGregor, looking down at his breakfast,
which consisted of:
Grapefruit
Oatmeal
Bacon Pop-Overs
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Pop-Overs (Eight)
I C-flour y2 t-salt
i C-milk i egg, beaten well
Add the milk slowly to the flour and salt, stirring constantly,
until a smooth paste is formed. Beat and add the remainder
of the milk, and the egg. Beat vigorously for three minutes.
Fill very hot gem pans three-fourths full. Bake thirty minutes
in a hot oven. They are done when they have "popped" at
least twice their size, and when they slip easily out of the pan.
Iron pans are the best.
MARCH.
Weary are we of our winter-time fare;
Hasten, O Springtime, elusive and arch!
Bring us your dainties; our cupboards are bare!
Pity us, starved by tyrannical March!
CHAPTER LXX
IN MARCH
GGOPRING is in the air,"
^ thought Bettina, as she
opened the casement windows
of her sun room. "I believe we'll
have dinner out here tonight. If
Bob would only come home
early, before the sun goes down !
Now I wonder who that can be !"
(For she heard a knock at the
kitchen door.)
"Why, Charlotte. Come in!"
she cried a moment later, for it was Mrs. Dixon with a nap-
kin-covered pan in hand, whom she found at the door.
"I've brought you some light rolls for your dinner, Bet-
tina," said Charlotte. "I don't make them often, and when I
do, I make more than we can eat. Will they fit into your din-
ner menu?"
"Indeed they will!" said Bettina. "I'm delighted to get
them. Now I wish I had something to send back with you
for your dinner, but I seem to have cooked too little of every-
thing !"
"Don't you worry," said Charlotte, heartily. "When I think
of all the things you've done for me, I'm only too glad to offer
you anything I have ! Well, I must hurry home to get our
dinner. That reminds me, Bettina, to ask you this: When
you escallop anything, do you dot the crumbs on top with
butter?"
"No, Charlotte, I melt the butter, add the crumbs, stir them
224 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
well, and then spread them on the top of the escalloped oys-
ters, or fish, or whatever I am escalloping."
"I'm glad to know the right way of doing, Bettina. Good*
bye, dear."
For dinner Bob and Bettina had:
Ham Timbales Macaroni and Cheese
Baked Apples
Light Rolls Butter
Grapefruit Salad
Chocolate Custard Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Ham Timbales (Three timbales)
I C-ground, cooked ham % t-paprika
1/3 C-soft bread crumbs 1 egg
% t-salt y2 C-milk
Mix the ham, salt, crumbs and paprika. Add the egg, well
beaten, and the milk. Pour into a well-buttered tin or alum-
inum individual moulds. Place in a pan of hot water and bake
in a moderate oven for thirty minutes. Unmould on a plat-
ter. Serve hot or cold.
Grapefruit Salad (Two portions)
1 C-grapefruit, cut in cubes 2 T-cottage cheese
% C-marshmallows, cut in squares *4 t-paprika
% C-diced celery 3 T-salad dressing
% t-salt 2 lettuce leaves
Place the lettuce leaves on the serving plates. Arrange care-
fully portions of grapefruit, marshmallows, celery and cheese
upon the lettuce. Sprinkle with salt and paprika. Pour the
salad dressing over each portion and serve cold.
Chocolate Custard (Two portions)
I C-milk 1/3 square of chocolate, melted
1 large egg 1 T-water
4 T-sugar V2 t-vanilla
l/& t-salt
Cook half the sugar, the chocolate and the water until smooth
With Bettinas Best Recipes 225
and creamy (two minutes). Add the milk while the mixture is
hot. Stir until smooth. Beat the egg, add the rest of the sugar
and the salt. Add to the custard mixture. Mix well. Pour
into two well-buttered custard moulds. Place the moulds in a
pan surrounded by hot water. Set in a moderate oven and cook
until a knife piercing it will come out clean. (Generally thirty
minutes.) Allow to stand fifteen minutes in a warm place.
Unmould and serve cold.
CHAPTER LXXI
A FIRELESS COOKER FOR AUNT LUCY
"TIT ELL, Uncle John! Hello!" said Bob, as he came
▼ » into the kitchen. "Is Aunt Lucy here, too ?"
"No, she isn't," said Uncle John, shaking his head solemnly,
"and the fact is, I shouldn't be here myself if it weren't for a
sort of conspiracy; eh, Bettina?"
"That's so, Bob," said Bettina, coming in from the dining-
room, her hands full of dishes, "and now I suppose we'll have
to let you in on the secret. Uncle John has just bought a
beautiful new fireless cooker for Aunt Lucy. Haven't you,
Uncle John?"
"Well!" said Bob, heartily. "That's fine! How did you
happen to think of it ?"
"Well Bob, she's been dreading the summer on the farm —
not feeling so very strong lately, you know — and this morn-
ing she was just about discouraged. It's next to impossible
to get any help out there — she says she's given up that idea —
and at breakfast she told me that if the spring turned out to be
a hot, uncomfortable one, she believed she'd go out and spend
the summer with Lem's girl in Colorado. I naturally hate to
have her do that, so I concluded to do everything I could to
keep her at home. I telephoned to Bettina, and she promised
to help me. The very first thing she suggested was a fireless
cooker, and we bought that today. I believe your Aunt Lucy'll
like it, too."
For dinner Bettina served:
Meat Balls with Egg Sauce
Baked Potatoes
Creamed Peas
Marshmallow Pudding Chocolate Sauct
226
With Bettina's Best Recipes 227
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Meat Balls (Three portions)
1 C-raw beef, cut fine % t-paprika
% C-bread crumbs i t-chopped parsley
2 T-milk % t-onion salt
i egg-yolk x/\ t-celery salt
}4 t-salt 3 T-bacon fat
Soak the crumbs, milk and egg together for five minutes.
Add the beef, salt, paprika, parsley, onion and celery salt.
Shape into flat cakes one inch thick, two and a half inches in
diameter. Place the fat in the frying-pan and when hot, add
the cakes. Lower the flame and cook seven minutes over a
moderate fire, turning to brown evenly. Serve on a hot plat-
ter. Garnish with parsley. Serve with egg sauce.
Egg Sauce for Meat Balls (Three portions)
3 T-flour % t-salt
2 T-butter % t-paprika
I t-chopped parsley I hard-cooked tggt
I C-milk cut fine
Melt the butter, add the flour, salt and paprika. Mix well,
add the milk, and cook for two minutes. Add the hard-cooked
egg sliced, or cut in small pieces. Serve hot with the meat
balls.
Marshmallow Pudding (Three portions)
2 t-granulated gelatin y2 C-boiling water
2 T-cold water i t-lemon extract
1/3 C-sugar i t-vanilla
I egg-white
Soak the gelatin in cold water for three minutes. Add the
boiling water, and when thoroughly dissolved add the sugar.
Allow to cool. Beat the egg-white stiff. When the gelatin
begins to congeal, beat it until fluffy, add the extracts and
then the egg-white. Beat until stiff. Pour into a moistened
cake pan. When hard and cold, remove from the pan, cut in
one inch cubes and pile in a glass dish.
CHAPTER LXXII
A SUNDAY NIGHT TEA
ff QTIR this chicken a la king a moment for me, will you,
■3 Ruth ?" said Bettina. "I'll warm the plates in the oven."
"What is that brown paper for ?"
"To put under the dishes I'm warming. It breaks the heat
and prevents cracking. There, that cream sauce has cooked
enough now. I'll take it and beat it for a minute. See ? There,
now it's ready for the egg and the chicken mixture."
"Shall I stir it now? Don't you put it back over the fire?"
"Just for a minute. You see, if any custard or egg sauce
is allowed to cook more than a minute after the egg has been
added, it will curdle."
"Oh, is it done now ? Let me toast the bread for it, will you,
Bettina? I like to make cunning little light brown triangles."
"I hope I have made enough of this chicken a la king."
"For eight people? I'm sure that you have, Bettina. Even
for people with as good appetites as Fred and I have! Are
you ready to serve it now ?"
That Sunday evening Bettina served:
Chicken a la King Toast
Cakes with Bettina Icing
Coffee
With Bettina's Best Recipes 229
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Chicken a la King (Eight portions)
iH C-cold boiled chicken, cut in 2/3-inch cubes
y2 t-salt
1/3 C-button mushrooms, cut in fourths
4 T-pimento, cut in hallf-inch lengths
2 T-green pepper, cut fine
5 T-butter or chicken fat
6 T-flour 2 C-milk
V/2 t-salt 2 egg-yolks
y2 t-paprika 8 pieces of toast
Boil the green pepper slowly for five minutes. Drain off
the water. Melt the butter, add the flour, salt and paprika, mix
thoroughly, and add the milk, stirring constantly. Cook three
minutes or until quite thick. Remove from the fire, beat one
minute, reheat, add the egg-yolk, mix thoroughly, and add the
chicken mixture. Heat again. Serve immediately by pouring
over slices of toast.
To prepare the chicken mixture, thoroughly mix the chicken,
half a teaspoon of salt, the mushrooms, the cooked green pep-
per and the pimento.
Small Cakes (Fourteen cakes)
\XA C-sugar % t-salt
1/3 C-butter 2/3 C-milk
2 C-flour I t-vanilla
4 t-baking powder y2 t-lemon extract
2 egg-whites
Cream the butter, add the sugar slowly and continue cream-
ing. Mix and sift the flour, baking powder and salt and add
these and the milk, vanilla and lemon extracts to the butter and
sugar. Mix well and beat two minutes. Beat the egg-whites
till very stiff and fold these very carefully into the cake mix-
ture. When thoroughly mixed, fill the cake pans (which have
been prepared with waxed paper) two-thirds of an inch deep
with the mixture.
Bake twenty-five minutes in a moderate oven, allow to
stand five minutes, then slip a knife around the edges and re-
230 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
move the cake carefully from the pan. Turn over, remove the
paper and allow the cake to cool. Ice on the bottom side.
When ready for serving, cut in two-inch squares.
Bettina Icing
I egg-white i t-vanilla
I T-cream y2 t-lemon extract
2 C-powdered ~3gar
Beat the egg-white ^dd part of the sugar. Add the cream,
vanilla and lemon extracts. Keep beating. Add the rest of
the sugar gradually. (A little more sugar may be needed.)
Beat the icing till very fluffy and until it will spread without
running off the cake. Spread each layer.
CHAPTER LXXIII
A SHAMROCK LUNCHEON
BETTINA was entertaining "the crowd" at a shamrock
luncheon, and each guest, to show her enthusiasm for the
charms of "ould Ireland," was wearing somewhere upon her^
gown, a bit of green.
A green basket rilled with white carnations and green fol-
iage stood in the center of the table. White glass candle-
sticks with green shades also carried out the color scheme,
while white crocheted favor baskets, filled with dainty green
candies, were at each plate. The table was set for six.
The name cards were white shamrocks outlined with green
ink and edged with gilt, and the name on each was written in
green.
Bettina used green ferns for decoration in every possible
place where they might add to the attractiveness of the table,
under the glass dishes and around the baskets containing rolls,
cakes and croutons.
"You might be Irish yourself, Bettina," said Mary, "you
have such a feeling for green! And isn't the table lovely,
girls !"
For luncheon Bettina served :
Grapefruit Cocktail
Cream of Celery Soup Shamrock Croutons
Bettina Meat Timbales Brown Sauce
Asparagus on Toast
Mashed Sweet Potato Croquettes
Shamrock Rolls Mint Jelly
Pepper Salad Sandwiches
Bombe Glace Shamrock Cakes
Coffee
Shamrock Candies
231
232 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Grapefruit Cocktail (Six portions)
2 grapefruit 6 green cherries
1/3 C-sugar Smilax or fern leaves
Peel the grapefruit, remove the white part and the tough
membrane, leaving the fruit. Cut with the scissors into one-
inch cubes. Place in a bowl, add the sugar and allow to stand
in a cold place for one hour. Arrange the servings in six
sherbet glasses. Place one green cherry on the top of each and
garnish the plate with smilax or a fern leaf. Stand the sher-
bet glasses on a paper doily on a small serving plate. Arrange
a bit of the green leaf under the sherbet glass (on top of the
doily) so that the green color will be visible through the glass.
Cream of Celery Soup (Six portions)
2/3 C-celery, cut fine 2l/2 C-milk
ix/2 C-water 2 t-salt
4 T-butter K t-paprika
6 T-flour 1 t-chopped parsley
2 T-whipped cream
Wash the celery thoroughly, and cut into small pieces. Add
the small leaves and the water. Simmer for thirty-five min-
utes. Strain through a coarse strainer, rubbing all of the pulp
through. Melt the butter, add the flour, salt and paprika.
Add the milk and cook two minutes, stirring to prevent scorch-
ing. Add the celery stock and the pulp. Cook one minute.
Fill bouillon cups three-fourths full, add two pinches of pars-
ley and one teaspoon of cream to each serving.
Shamrock Croutons (Six portions)
6 slices bread 2 T-butter
Y4 t-salt
Cut the slices of bread half an inch thick and cut pieces out of
each with a shamrock cooky cutter. Toast on each side until
a delicate brown. Butter and sprinkle with salt, serve warm
with soup.
CHAPTER LXXIV
AT DINNER
**T\yT ARY gave a waffle party today/' announced Bettina at
*»*■ the dinner table.
"A waffle party in the afternoon?" said Bob. "That was
■queer ! Usually at afternoon parties you women serve tiny
little cups of tea and dainty olive sandwiches, almost too small
to be visible ; don't you ? Waffles are more sensible, I think,
hut it seems a shame that we men had to miss such a party."
"Well, I'm afraid I'll have to acknowledge that we had a
very good time without you," laughed Bettina, wickedly. "It
has been cold today, you know, and Mary's kitchen was so
warm and bright and cozy! We all went out there and took
turns baking the waffles. We consumed a large number of
them, and had a very jolly informal kind of time. We house-
keepers compared notes and gave each other advice and really
learned a great many things."
"Such as "
"Well, Alice tells me that when she makes a devil's food
•cake she removes all of the melted chocolate from the pan by
adding a little flour which mixes in thoroughly and saves any
waste of chocolate. Surely that is worth knowing."
"It certainly is, though I'll admit that I don't quite under-
stand your language."
"Well, cheer up, Bob ! There are times when I confess that
I don't quite understand the automobile explanations you so
often give me of late !"
Their dinner that evening consisted of :
Pork Chops Mashed Potatoes
Creamed Carrots Bettina Salad
Orange Dessert
Coffee
233
234 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Pork Chops (Two portions)
2 pork chops i T-egg
I4t C-cracker crumbs I T-water
i T-bacon fat
Wipe the chops with a damp cloth. Mix the crumbs and
the salt. Beat the egg and the water together. Dip the chops
in the crumbs, then in the egg mixture and then in the crumbs.
Place the bacon fat in the frying-pan and when hot add the
chops. Brown thoroughly on both sides, add half a cup of
water, and cook over a moderate fire until tender. (About
thirty minutes.) Cover with a lid while cooking. More water
may be needed to prevent burning.
Bettina Salad (Two portions)
I tomato i t-salt
1 green pepper % t-onion salt
2 T-pimento cut in % t-celery salt
small pieces l/i t-paprika
2 T-grated cheese % C-salad dressing
2 pieces of lettuce
Arrange the lettuce leaves on a plate. Place a slice of to-
mato, two slices of green pepper, one tablespoon of pimento
and one tablespoon of cheese on each serving. Mix the salad
dressing with salt, paprika, celery and onion salts. Pour half
of the mixture over a portion of the salad.
Orange Dessert (Two portions)
2 slices of sponge cake 2 T-nut meats, cut fine
i orange 2/3 C-whipped cream
2 T-sugar 1 t-vanilla
Add the vanilla and the sugar to the whipped cream. Ar-
range the slices of cake on the plates. Place one-fourth of the
orange, divided into sections and sprinkled with sugar, on each
slice. Pile the whipped cream on the orange. Place one table-
spoon of nut meats and the remaining fourth of the orange
(cut small) on each portion. Do not arrange this dessert until
just ready to serve.
CHAPTER LXXV
AN ANNIVERSARY DINNER
f *' I AHIS is some dinner, Bettina !" said Bob, over his des-
«*- sert. "It's like a celebration, somehow, with the
pink candles on the table, and the flowers, and the com-
pany menu. Why, Bettina, I do believe it is an anniver-
sary! Isn't it? Let me see! The second anniversary of
our engagement !"
"I've been waiting to see if you would remember that,
Bob, and I must say that I'm a little ashamed of you ! After
all, it took the pink candles and the company dinner to
make you think of it ! Well, I suppose men are all alike I"
And she sighed the sigh of deep disillusionment.
Bob waited for a moment to see the dimple reappear in
her cheek, and the twinkle in her eyes, and then he, too,
sighed — a sigh of relief.
"Bless your heart, Bettina, don't you sigh like that again!
You almost had me thinking that you were in earnest. Now
you took the very nicest way to remind me of that anniversary.
Instead of feeling neglected like some women "
"What do you know about 'some women,' Bob?"
"Only what I've read in books "
"Well, the books don't know. But I give you fair warn-
ing, Bob, that on the next anniversary you fail to remember,
I'll feed you bread and milk, ana not chicken/'
"This is a fine dessert," said Boh meekly and tactfully.
235
236 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
"Do you like it? I enjoy making it, it looks so light and
fluffy. I pile it very lightly into the glass dish to make it
that way. I prefer gelatin in glass dishes, don't you, Bob?"
"You bet I do ! Everything about this anniversary din-
ner is fine except for my own stupidity !"
That night Bettina served :
Bettina's Chicken En Casserole
Whole Wheat Bread Butter
Cranberry Jelly-
Head Lettuce with Salad Dressing
Bettina's Sponge
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Bettina's Chicken En Casserole (Two portions)
4 pieces of chicken % C-cooked potatoes,
2 T-flour cut in cubes
i T-lard Yz C-cooked carrots
i C-boiling water % C-cooked celery
1 t-salt i T-raw onion
2 T-butter I t-salt
Roll the chicken in the flour. Place the lard in the frying-
pan, and when very hot, add the chicken, browning thor-
oughly on all sides. Season with the salt. Place in the
casserole and add the boiling water. Cover, and place in a
moderate oven for one hour. Melt the butter, and when
hot, add the potatoes, carrots, onion, celery and salt. Stir
constantly, and when well-browned, add to the chicken
mixture. Allow to cook for half an hour. More water may
be needed. Serve in the casserole.
Bettina's Sponge (Three portions)
2 t-granulated gelatin I C-boiling water
i T-cold water y2 C-whipped cream
4 T-sugar 6 cocoanut macaroons, crushed
I T-lemon juice 8 candied cherries, cut fine
2 T-nut meats, cut fine
Add the cold water to the gelatin and allow it to stand
With Bettina's Best Recipes 237
five minutes. Add the sugar and the lemon juice. Mix
well, and add boiling water. When thoroughly dissolved,
allow to cool. When the mixture begins to congeal, or
thicken, add the whipped cream, crushed macaroons, cher-
ries and nut meats. Beat until the mixture begins to thicken.
Pile lightly into a glass dish and set away to harden for
one hour.
CHAPTER LXXVI
RUTH COMES TO DINNER
f * TTOW do you like this kind of meat, Ruth?" asked Bob.
•*■ * "It is a little invention of Bettina's own. I call it a
symphony and no 'mis-steak/ "
"It is an economy, not a symphony," said Bettina, "but
if it leads you to make such dreadful puns as that, I'll wish
I had fed you something else for dinner."
"To me," said Ruth, "this dish is a delicacy and a des-
pair. How can you think of things like this? I know I
never could do it in the wide world !"
"I can't compose symphonies or poems," said Eettina,
"so I express myself in this way. And most of my music
is played in a simple key. It is difficult to think of a variety
of inexpensive meat dishes, and sometimes I have to invent
them in order to keep within my allowance, and still vary
my menus. Creamed onions are economical and healthful,
too, so you see that my whole dinner is inexpensive."
"And also delicious," said Ruth. "I don't see how you
manage to keep cooked onions from having a strong smell,
and to keep the house so free from the odor."
"O that someone would patent
That someone would patent and sell
An onion with an onion taste
And with a violet1 smell,"
quoted Bob.
238
With Bettina's Best Recipes 239
"Well," said Bettina, "I'm afraid that a house in which
onions have recently been cooking, can't be entirely free
from the odor, but I largely overcome the difficulty by
peeling them under cold water, and then cooking them in
an uncovered vessel. Then, too, I wonder if you know that
boiling them for five minutes and then draining them and
covering them with boiling water again — even draining
them twice and finishing the cooking in fresh boiling water
— is a splendid thing for taking away the strong taste."
"No, I didn't know that. Bettina, dear, your kind of
apple sauce is as fine a dessert as I ever ate."
"You're good to say so, Ruth. I was afraid when I urged
you to stay tonight that you might think this meal very
plain and simple for a guest, but I know it is healthful and
economical and Bob seems to thrive, so I'll not be remorse-
ful."
"Just let me ask you what gives this apple sauce such a deli-
cate flavor. It isn't a bit like common, ordinary apple
sauce."
"I don't know ; maybe it's the butter. I always put that
in, and a few grains of salt. This has also a thin slice of
lemon cooked in it — rind and all — and of course there is a
little cinnamon, though some people prefer nutmeg. Then
I try to be careful in putting in the sugar, for I know that
some apples require more than others. These were tart
apples; I like them better for apple sauce."
"The reason why I'm never cross
Is 'cause I'm fed on apple sauce,"
remarked Bob complacently.
"But I am sure you'd fret and cry
If fed instead on apple pie,"
added Ruth.
240 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
"Not Bettina's apple pie!" said Bob decidedly. "You
may just be sure that it would improve any disposition!"
Dinner that night consisted of:
Bcttina Steak
New Potatoes with Maitre d'Hotel Sauce
Creamed Onions
Apple Sauce
Bread Butter
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Bettina Steak (Four portions)
I lb. ground beef from the round l/2 t-onion juice or onion salt
54 C-bread crumbs l/2 t-chopped green pepper
yA C-milk i t-salt
I tgg> well beaten Y\ t-paprika
% t-grated nutmeg x/2 t-chopped parsley
Soak the crumbs in milk for three minutes, add the meat,
tgg, nutmeg, onion juice, parsley, salt, green pepper and
paprika. Mix well. Pat into shape one and one-half inches
thick in a well buttered tin pan. Cook five minutes under
a very hot broiler. Turn down the heat a little and cook
ten minutes more. Turn the steak into another buttered
pan the same size and cook that side ten minutes. Pie
tins may be used to cook the meat in.
Creamed Onions (Four portions)
6 onions il/2 C-vegetable white sauce
Peel six medium sized onions under cold water. Place
in a stew-pan and cover with boiling water. Boil five min-
utes, drain, cover again with boiling water and cook ten
minutes. Drain, recover with boiling water and cook ten
minutes longer or until tender. Serve with hot white sauce.
Apple Sauce
6 tart apples i thin slice of lemon
% C-water Y% t-cinnamon
y2 C-sugar y2 t-butter
A few grains of s?lt
With Bettinas Best Recipes 241
Wash, peel, quarter and core the apples. Add the water,
cover the kettle with a lid and cook till apples are soft. Add
other ingredients. Cook enough longer to dissolve the
sugar. Mash or put through a colander, if desired.
APRIL.
Tell Trie, housewife blithe and fair,
How does your garden grow?
Crisp and green the lettuce there ,-
Onions, row by row,
Radishes beyond compare!
Spring and I with tender care
Watch them well, you know!
bttK eolL.rna.
CHAPTER LXXVII
MILDRED'S SPRING VACATION
**T WAS so afraid Father
-■* wouldn't let me come,
Aunt Bettina!" exclaimed Mil-
dred, after the first greetings.
"And your letter sounded so
jolly — about the cooking and
all — well, if Father had said
'no/ I should simply have died."
"Died, Mildred?" asked Bob.
"I must say you look fairly
healthy to me, too much so to
pine away soon !'?
"I don't intend to die now, Uncle Bob ! I'm going to live
and have the most fun helping Aunt Bettina! I like that
so much better than lessons. I brought two aprons in my
suit case ; Mother said I acted as if I wouldn't meet anybody
in a three day visit but your kitchen stove. And to tell the
truth, Aunt Bettina, I just hope I won't! I'd rather help
you cook than see sights or meet people."
"Oh, dear !" exclaimed Bob tragically. "Just when I was
counting on you to climb to the dome of the capitol with
me, too ! Why was I ever born ?"
"You'll have to do your climbing alone, I'm afraid," Mil-
dred replied cheerfully. "Now, Aunt Bettina, may I set
the table for you? Do show me what you are going to
have for dinner! Little custards? Oh, how cunning!
Made in moulds and served cold with maple syrup? Aunt
243
244 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Bettina, I just believe I could make that dessert myself!
Will you teach me while I'm here?"
The dinner consisted of :
Round Steak En Casserole Baked Potatoes
Lettuce Salad Bettina Dressing
Steamed Custard Maple Syrup
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Round Steak En Casserole (Three portions)
i lb. round steak, cut one 2 T-green pepper, cut fine
inch thick i C-diced carrots
y2 C-flour 2 C-water
i T-onion, cut fine 2 t-salt
Place the meat, which has been wiped with a damp cloth,
upon a meat board. Cut into four pieces. Pound the flour
into the meat on both sides, using a meat pounder or the
side of a heavy saucer. Butter the casserole, add a layer of
meat, then onions and green peppers. Add the carrots.
Add the salt to the water and pour over the meat. Cover
closely. Place in a moderate oven and allow to cook slowly for
two hours. More water may be needed before the meat
is done. Serve in the casserole.
Lettuce Salad (Three portions)
6 pieces of lettuce y2 t-salt
Arrange the lettuce, which has been washed and chilled,
upon three plates. Sprinkle the lettuce with salt and serve
with the following dressing:
Bettina Dressing
2/3 C-salad dressing 1 T-pimento catsup
1 t-olive oil XA C-celery, cut fine
2 T-chopped pickle 2 T-nut meats, cut fine
1 T-chopped pimento ^ t-salt
% t-paprika
With Bettina's Best Recipes 246
Beat the salad dressing, add the oil, pickle, pimento,
catsup, celery, nut meats, salt and paprika. Beat one min-
ute. Pour three tablespoons of the mixture over each por-
tion of the lettuce. Serve very cold.
Steamed Custard (Four custards)
lY2 C-milk % t-salt
2 eggs J4 t-vanilla extract
3 T-sugar J4 t-lemon extract
% t-grated nutmeg
Beat the eggs, add the sugar, salt, vanilla, and lemon
extract. Mix thoroughly. Butter four custard cups. Fill
a pan four inches deep with hot (not boiling) water. Set
the cups in the pan and place in a moderately slow oven for
thirty-five or forty minutes (or until a knife inserted in
the custard comes out clean). Serve cold with maple syrup
poured over it.
CHAPTER LXXVIII
HELPING BETTINA
**TV/TILDRED helped me get the dinner tonight," said
•*■*■■• Bettina, as they sat down at the table.
"Indeed I did, Uncle Bob!" exclaimed the little girl de-
lightedly. "And I'm having so much fun that I don't ever,
ever, ever want to go home ! Aunt Bettina is going to show
me how to make cookies tomorrow !"
4 "Is she?" said Bob. "Well, don't eat 'em all up before
I get here. Save me six fat ones, with raisins in. Don't
forget the raisins."
"I set the table, Uncle Bob, and I made the rice cro-
quettes into that cunning shape, and when they were fried,
I put in the jelly! Don't they look nice?"
"The most artistic rice croquettes, I ever ate!" declared
Bob.
"And wait till you see the dessert! I fixed that; Aunt
Bettina showed me how. But I won't tell you what it is —
yet. I know you'll like it, though."
"Well, you're a great little helper, Mildred, aren't you !"
"That's just what Aunt Bettina says. And I've learned
so many things ! I didn't know before that it was easier
to cut up marshmallows with the scissors than any other
way. Oh, Aunt Bettina! I almost told him about our des-
sert !"
"Marshmallows? Marshmallows?" said Bob. "A clue,
246
With Bettina's Best Recipes 247
I do believe! I have it: 'Marshmallows served with scis-
sors'/"
"Oh, Uncle Bob, you're too funny I" cried Mildred, shout-
ing with laughter.
"Appreciated at last !" said Bob.
For dinner that night they had :
Lamb Chops Rice Croquettes
Creamed Peas
Bread Butter
Sponge Cake Whipped Cream
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
'All measurements are level)
Broiled Lamb Chops (Three portions)
3 lamb chops 1 t-salt
i T-butter " l/k t-paprika
Ys t-parsley
Wipe and trim the chops. Place on a hot tin pan four
inches from a direct hot flame (under a broiler). Cook two
minutes, turn and thoroughly cook the other side for two
minutes. Lower the flame a little, add the salt and pepper,
and cook for eight minutes more. (A little longer if the
chops are very thick.) Remove to a warm platter, dot with
butter, add the parsley and serve immediately.
Rice Croquettes with Jelly (Three croquettes)
I C-steamed rice % t-salt
i egg-yolk i t-chopped parsley
i T-butter 3 T-flour
% t-paprika 2 T-grape jelly
Mix the steamed rice, egg-yolk, butter, paprika, salt and
parsley. Shape into flat disks one inch thick and three
inches in diameter. Roll in flour. Make an indentation in
the center of each v*ith a spoon, to hold the jelly. Fry in
hot deep fat until brown. Drain, the wrong side up. Heat
in a hot oven and serve hot. Place a cube of jelly in the
center of each.
248 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Sponge Cake with Whipped Cream (Three portions)
3 slices of stale cake (three 3 T-cherry juice
by three by one inch) 4 T-whipping cream
8 marshmallows cut in cubes Yz t-vanilla
3 T-canned cherries il/2 T-sugar
Beat the cream until stiff, add the vanilla, marshmallows
and sugar. Arrange the cake in glass sherbet dishes. Place
a tablespoon of cherries and a tablespoon of juice on each
slice. Place one and a half tablespoons of the whipped
cream mixture on each portion. Allow to stand in a cold
place for five minutes.
CHAPTER LXXIX
HELPING WITH A COMPANY DINNER
f f /^OOKING a company dinner is such fun!" sighed
^-^ Mildred. "I like the dinner part, but I always wish
that the company would stay away at the last minute."
"Oh, you'll like Mr. Jackson, Mildred. He's one of
Uncle Bob's best friends, and so nice and jolly!"
"The jolly men always like to tease, and the ones who
aren't jolly are always cross. I don't intend to get mar-
ried myself. I'm going to live in a nice little bungalow like
this one and do my own cooking."
"Will you live all alone?" asked Bettina.
"I'll adopt some children — seven or eight, I think, — all
girls. I don't want any boys around."
"Your bungalow will have to be larger than this to accom-
modate them all if you adopt seven or eight."
"I don't want a large one ; that would spoil the fun. I'll
let the children take turns sleeping on the floor. Children
always love to sleep on the floor, and mothers never like
to have them do it! I wonder why? Now, will you let
me brown the flour for the gravy?"
"Yes, dear. Put half a cup of white flour in that frying-
pan over the fire and keep stirring it constantly until it is a
nice brown color, about like powdered cinnamon."
"This way?"
"Yes, Mildred ; a little darker than that, but keep stirring
it so that it won't burn. There, that's exactly right !"
That evening Bettina served :
249
250 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Leg of Lamb with Browned Potatoes
Gravy
Lettuce and Egg Salad
Strawberry Shortcake Cream
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Leg of Lamb and Browned Potatoes (Four portions)
3 lb. leg of lamb J4 t-paprika
6 potatoes 2 T-bacon fat
I T-salt 1/3 C-boiling water
Allow the lamb to stand in cold water for ten minutes.
Remove and wipe dry. Place the fat in a frying-pan. Add
the meat and cook until thoroughly browned on all sides.
Place in the fireless cooker (or a slow oven) and surround
the meat with the potatoes. Sprinkle with the salt and
paprika. Add the water. (If in the cooker, place the heated
disks under and over the meat.) Cook two hours.
Gravy (Four portions)
4 T-browned flour *4 t-white pepper
1 T-butter il/2 C-meat stock and
I t-salt water
Remove the meat from the pan in which it was cooked
^also remove the potatoes) and add sufficient water to the
stock in the pan to make one and a half cups all together.
Melt the butter, add the browned flour and a tablespoon of
the stock. Mix well, and add the salt and pepper. Add the
remaining stock ; cook, stirring constantly for two minutes.
Pour into a heated gravy dish. Serve at once.
Egg and Lettuce Salad (Four portions)
8 pieces of lettuce 2 t-salt
4 hard-cooked eggs ]/2 t-paprika
4 radishes Y* t-celery salt
4 young onions 8 T-salad dressing
Arrange two pieces of lettuce on each plate. Slice an
egg, a radish and an onion and arrange these upon the
lettuce leaves. Sprinkle each portion with a fourth of the
seasoning. Place two tablespoons of salad dressing on each
portion. Have all the ingredients cold before combining.
CHAPTER LXXX
MILDRED'S DAY
ff T HELPED to make the cunning little biscuits, Uncle
«■■ Bob," explained Mildred at dinner.
"You did?" said Bob, feigning astonishment. "You rolled
them out with a rolling pin, I suppose, and "
"Oh, no, Uncle Bob! You ousrht never to use a rolling
pin, Aunt Bettina says '" t^id Mildred in a horrified tone, as
if she haH been cooking for the First Families for a score
of years. "Good cooks always pat down the dough — they
never roll it out."
"Well, what do you do first? Stir up the dough with a
spoon ?"
"No, indeed; you use a knife. Then you pat the dough
down, and cut out the dear little biscuits with a biscuit
cutter."
"And put them side by side in a nicely buttered pan? I
know how !"
"But you don't butter the pan," said Mildred trium-
phantly. "Or flour it, either. Aunt Bettina says that lots
of people think the pan has to be buttered or floured, but
they're wrong. It's lots better to put the biscuits into a nice
clean pan."
"But don't they stick to it, and burn?"
"No, indeed ! They don't burn a bit ! Look at these !"
said Mildred, delighted to find the opportunity to impart
some of her newly acquired knowledge.
"Well, what else did you help Aunt Bettina to make?"
251
252 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
"These nice stuffed onions. It was fun to make them,
even though I don't like onions. I ground up the dry-
bread that Aunt Bettina keeps in the jar by the stove."
"Well, you can tell Mother Polly that Aunt Bettina will
make a good cook of you yet !"
For dinner that night they had :
Rolled Stuffed Steak Potatoes au Gratin
Stuffed Onions
Sour Cream Biscuits Currant Jelly
Sliced Bananas Cream
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Stuffed Onions (Four portions)
4 onions
i t-parsley
y2 C-bread crumbs
i T-pimento
i T-tomato pulp
i egg-yolk
I T-butter
Y$ C-cooked celery
Vz
t-salt
Wash and peel the onions. Cook for ten minutes in boil-
ing water. Rinse with cold water to make them firm.
Push out the centers. Place the onions in a well-buttered
baking pan and fill each onion with filling. Place in a
moderate oven for twenty minutes.
Filling
Mix the crumbs, tomato pulp, butter, parsley, pimento,
salt, tgg yolks and celery. Cook for one minute. Fill each
onion case carefully with the mixture. Then pour the
following sauce about the onions before placing them in the
oven:
White Sauce (Four portions)
2 T-butter YA t-salt
2 T-flour i/6 t-paprika
i C-milk
Melt the butter, add the flour, salt and paprika. Mix
well, add the milk, and cook for one minute.
With Bettina's Best Recipes 253
Sour Cream Biscuits (Four portions)
2 C-flour 3 T-fat
y2 t-salt 54 t-soda
3 t-baking powder 2/3 C-sour milk
Mix the flour, salt and baking powder. Cut in the fat
with a knife. Add the soda to the milk, and when the
effervescing ceases, add slowly to the dry ingredients. (All
the milk may not be needed.) When a soft dough is
formed, toss onto a floured board. Pat into shape, cut
with a biscuit cutter, and place side by side on a tin pan or
baking sheet. Bake fifteen minutes in a moderately hot
oven.
CHAPTER LXXXI
POLLY COMES FOR MILDRED
* f QO you've been teaching Mildred to cook?" asked Polly
^ as they sat down to dinner.
"Oh, Mother, I've learned so much !" cried Mildred with
enthusiasm. "And when I'm married, I'm going to have a
dear little kitchen just like Aunt Betty's ! Aunt Betty does
know the very best way to do everything! Why, Mother,
I think she's a better cook even than Selma, and not half
so cross when I bother !"
"Bother!" said Bettina. "Why, Mildred, you've been a
real help to me!"
"I hope so," laughed Polly, "but I'm not so sure. Chil-
dren never worry me — it's fortunate, isn't it? — but I don't
see how on earth anyone can cook with a child in the
kitchen ! I wanted Selma to teach Mildred, but I hadn't
the heart to insist when she objected to the plan."
"H — m, Selma !" said Mildred with scorn. "Why, Mother,
oelma doesnvt even know enough to line her cake pans with
waxed paper! She butters 'em! And I don't believe we
have a spatula in the whole house !"
"A — what?" said Polly in a puzzled tone. "I don't be-
lieve I "
"Don't you know what a spatula is, Mother?" asked
Mildred didactically. "Why, it's one of those flattened out
spoon-things to use in the kitchen. We ought to have one.
And — Mother, you ought to see how much mayonnaise
Aunt Bettina makes at a time ! It'll keep, you know."
254
With Bettina's Best Recipes 255
"Goodness!" said Polly tragically. "What a dreadful
thing, it will be to live with a child who knows more than
I do!"
For dinner that night they had:
Veal Chops
Baked Potatoes Escalloped Onions
Bread Butter
Mocha Cake Mocha Icing
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Escalloped Onions (Four portions)
1 C-onions I t-salt
i qt. water % t-pepper
2 T-butter i C-milk
2 T-flour % C-buttered crumbs
Wash and peel the onions. Cook in one quart of water.
Allow to boil five minutes. Change the water and continue
boiling ten minutes. Change the water again, and when
thoroughly cooked (about fifteen minutes more), remove
from the fire and drain.
Melt the butter, add the flour and salt and mix thor-
oughly. Add the milk and cook one minute. Add the
onions, and pour the mixture into a well-buttered baking
dish. Place the buttered crumbs on the top of the onions
and bake in a moderate oven for twenty minutes.
Mocha Cake (Twelve portions)
1/3 C-butter 1 C-strong coffee
1 C-sugar y2 t-vanilla
2 eggs 2 C-flour
3 t-baking powder
Cream the butter, add the sugar and cream the mixture, add
the egg-yolks, mix well and add the coffee, vanilla, flour and
baking powder. Beat two minutes. Add the stiffly beaten egg-
whites. Pour the mixture into two layer-cake pans pre-
pared with waxed paper. Bake twenty-five minutes in a
moderate oven. When cool, spread with the mocha icing.
256 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Mocha Icing (Twelve portions)
4 T-strong boiling coffee I t-vanilla
i]/2 C-powdered sugar
Mix the vanilla with the coffee. Add the powdered sugar
slowly until the proper consistency to spread. Spread over
one layer and place the upper layer on the lower. Place the
icing on the top layer and on the sides. More sugar may
be needed
CHAPTER LXXXII
MILDRED'S PLANS
**T SUPPOSE that when we get home again, Mildred
*■■ will be insisting that we reorganize our household
along the lines of yours, Bettina," laughed Polly. "I can
just hear Selma's outbursts at the idea of any changes in
her department."
"But you can always smile Selma out of her 'spells/
Mother," coaxed Mildred. "And just think, Selma doesn't
even know what a fireless cooker is ! We'll have to explain
it to her."
"What can you make in a fireless cooker, Mildred?"
asked Polly of her little daughter, who was fairly bursting
with her newly acquired information.
"Oh, Mother, this roast! Isn't it good? Aunt Betty kept
it in the cooker almost four hours, and think how much
gas that saved !"
"Well, I'll admit that such an item would appeal to your
father, Mildred," Polly replied, "so I think I'll leave it to
you to get around him and Selma. I'm sure," she con-
tinued, turning to Bob, "that such an undertaking can rea-
sonably be expected to occupy Mildred for some time. But
I do like the roast."
"The roast?" said Bob. "It is good, Polly, but you
needn't think that this is a company meal, especially. Why,
Bettina gives me company dinners every day !"
For dinner that night they had :
Pot Roast Gravy
Boiled Rice
Apple and Nut Salad
Chocolate Pie
Coffee
257
258 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Pot Roast (Four portions)
2.y2 lbs. of beef (a 2 t-salt
rump roast ^ t-pepper
2 T-bacon drippings %. C-diced carrots
3 T-flour J4 C-diced turnips
1 bay leaf 2 T-chopped onions
4 cloves yi C-celery
3 C-boiling water
Place the bacon drippings in a frying-pan. Roll the beef
in the flour, and when the fat is hot, add the beef and
brown thoroughly on all sides. . Place the meat in a kettle,
and add the vegetables. Pour the water in the frying-pan
to remove any fat. Pour all over the meat. Add the bay
leaf, cloves and salt. Cover closely and allow to cook very
slowly for three and a half hours. Turn the meat after the
second hour. This is a good fireless cooker recipe.
Gravy
1 C-stock 1 T-flour
1 T-water
Remove the meat from the kettle. Strain the stock into
a bowl. To the flour, add the water. Mix well, and grad-
ually add the stock. Mix and cook one minute. Pour the
gravy over the meat and reserve the remaining stock and
vegetables for soup.
Soup
Strain the vegetables through the strainer, pressing thor-
oughly to remove all the pulp. Add the stock and one-half
a cup of water. Reheat and serve for dinner with croutons
or salted wafers.
Rice
Y2 C-rice 1 t-salt
2 C-boiling water y$ t-paprika
1 T-butter
With Bettinas Best Recipes 259
When the water is boiling, add the salt. Add the rice
and allow it to boil twenty minutes. More water may be
needed. Stir occasionally with a fork. Pour into a strainer,
and rinse thoroughly with cold water. Toss into a buttered
vegetable dish. Sprinkle with paprika and dot with butter.
Set in a moderate oven for fifteen minutes.
CHAPTER LXXXIII
A LUNCHEON FOR POLLY
*f^rOW that this delicious little luncheon is over, Bet-
•*■ ^ tina," said Alice, "I want to ask you something.
How did you make the croquettes that cunning shape?"
"With a conical ice cicam mould, Alice," Bettina an-
swered. "It is very simple. And I'll tell you another thing.
I made those croquettes yesterday, not today."
"You don't mean that you fried them yesterday?"
"Yes, I did, Alice. In deep fat."
"But they were warm, not cold."
"Yes, for I reheated them in the oven a few minutes be-
fore I served them. They really are as good as new when
treated that way. I had always supposed that croquettes
had to be served immediately after they were fried, and you
know frying in deep fat is really a nuisance when it has to
be done at the last minute. For instance, today I had the
biscuits to make, and the soup and sweet potatoes to pre-
pare. And I believe in being leisurely when giving a
luncheon, so I certainly would not serve croquettes if they
had to be made that day. I tried reheating them once when
Bob and I were here alone and discovered that they were
delicious. So I've always, ever since, fried my croquettes
the day before."
"Hereafter I'll serve croquettes at luncheon myself," said
Alice. "You have taught me something."
For luncheon that day Bettina served:
260
With Bettina's Best Recipes 261
Cream of Pea Soup Toasted Sticks
Pork Croquettes Glazed Sweet Potatoes
Creamed Green Beans
Biscuit Cherry Butter
Head Lettuce French Dressing
Date Pudding Cream
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Cream of Pea Soup (Four portions)
1 C-peas 2 T-butter
i C-water 2 C-milk
% t-sugar 1 t-salt
2 T-flour J4 t-paprika
Cook the peas, water and sugar slowly for fifteen minutes.
Strain, and rub all the pulp through the strainer. Melt the
butter, add the flour, salt and paprika. Mix thoroughly and
gradually add the milk. Boil one minute and add the pulp
and liquid from the peas. Cook one minute. Serve in hot
soup plates or bouillon cups.
Toasted Sticks (Four portions)
3 slices of bread 1 T-butter
XA t-salt
Cut the slices of bread one-half an inch thick. Butter,
and sprinkle with salt. Cut into strips, the length of the
slice and half an inch wide. Place on a tin pan, and cook
directly under a fire or in an oven until a delicate brown.
Serve warm.
Ground Pork Croquettes (Four croquettes)
1 C-chopped, cooked pork y2 T-butter
% t-paprika 1 T-flour
% t-celery salt 1/3 C-milk
Y% t-onion salt 1/3 C-crumbs
% t-salt 2 T-egg
1 T-pimento, cut fine 1 T-water
Melt the butter, add the flour, paprika, celery salt, onion
salt, salt and pimento. Gradually add the milk and cook
thoroughly for one minute. Add the meat and allow the
262 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
mixture to cool. When cool, shape into the desired shape,
preferably conical. Roll in the crumbs, dip in the egg and
water mixed, then dip in the crumbs and allow to stand
for fifteen minutes or more. Fry in deep fat.
Date Pudding (Four portions)
2 egg-whites I t-baking powder
% C-sugar x/z C-dates, cut fine
4 T-flour y* C-nut meats, cut fine
l/& t-salt lA t-vanilla
Beat the egg whites thoroughly, add the sugar, flour, salt
and baking powder. Mix well, add the dates, nuts and
vanilla. Pile lightly in a well-buttered baking-dish. Place
the dish in a pan of hot water and bake thirty minutes in
a moderate oven. Allow the pudding to remain in the oven
a little while after the heat is turned off. If cooled slowly,
it will not fall. The pudding may be baked in individual
moulds if preferred, and may be served with whipped cream.
CHAPTER LXXXIV
FURS TO PUT AWAY
« A PENNY for your thoughts !"
**" Bettina started in surprise. "Why, Ruth, I didn't
see you coming up the walk I"
"I knew you didn't. But what on earth are you doing out
here on your front steps? Enjoying the weather?"
"Indeed I am ! Isn't it a wonderful spring day? But my
thoughts weren't very poetic, I must admit. I was just
wondering if it was too early to put away my furs for the
summer. I'm' always tempted to do that when the first
signs of spring appear, and then I'm generally sorry a few
days later."
"I'll have to put mine away soon, too. Do tell me, Bet-
tina, just how you go about it."
"Well, I always hang mine in the sun for a while, then I
beat them well, comb them out with a steel comb, and
wrap them up."
"With moth-balls?"
"That is a good way, but not at all necessary. I always
wrap mine in a newspaper — a good tight package. Moths
don't like printer's ink, you know, and furs so wrapped are
perfectly safe."
"Then, Bettina, you don't need to add that you label the
package, for I know that you do, you thoroughly thorough
housekeeper !"
Bettina laughed. "Well, Ruth, I do label it. Labelled
packages are so much better to have, for very often you
need to get something out in a hurry."
For dinner that night Bettina served :
263
264 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Broiled Steak Lyonnaise Potatoes
Bean Salad
Bread Butter
Date Rocks Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Lyonnaise Potatoes (Two portions)
2 T-onion
2 T-butter
% t-paprika
Y2 t-salt
I C-cold boiled potatoes, cut in 3^-inch cubes
i t-chopped parsley
Place one tablespoon of butter in a frying-pan and when
hot add the onion. Let the onion cook until it is brown.
Add the salt and parsley, the rest of the butter, the potatoes
and the paprika. Stir well. Cook until the potatoes are
well browned.
Bean Salad (Two portions)
1 C-kidney beans I t-salt
l/2 C-celery, cut fine 3 T-chopped pickle
2 T-nut meats 1/3 C-salad dressing
2 pieces of lettuce
Mix the beans, celery, nut meats, green pepper, pickles
and salt. Add the salad dressing. Serve very cold on
lettuce leaves.
Date Rocks
I
C-sugar
1
t-cinnamon
3/2
C-lard and butter
mixed
V2
t-powdered cloves
V2
C-flour
V*
t-vanilla
V2
t-baking
powder
V2
C-dates, cut
fine
2
eggs
V*
C-nut meats,
cut fine
Vs t-salt
Cream the butter and lard, add the sugar, and mix well.
Add the two eggs well beaten. Mix and sift thoroughly
the flour, baking powder, salt, cloves and cinnamon. Add
the dates and nuts. Stir these dry ingredients into the
first mixture. Add the vanilla. Mix thoroughly and drop
from the end of the spoon upon a well larded and floured
baking pan. Bake fifteen minutes in a moderate oven.
CHAPTER LXXXV
PLANNING A CHILDREN'S PARTY
^rVF course, I'll help you, Ruth," said Bettina. "I'd
^-^ love to. A children's party ! What fun it will be !
How many children will be there?"
"Twelve or fifteen, I think. Now let me tell you Ralph's
own idea for entertainment. I suppose I'm a doting aunt,
but it sounds very possible to me."
"Did Ralph suggest the kind of a party he wished? Well,
isn't he a clever boy! And he's only eleven years old,
too."
"He suggested that the invitations invite the children to
a circus. You see, we could write a little rhyme to that
effect on animal paper, or with an animal picture pasted in
the corner. When the children arrive, we'll have the parade.
We'll have ready the horns, drums, and so forth, for the
band, and some of the children will represent the various
wild animals. The parade will lead to the refreshment table
(after some circus games, perhaps), which will be set out-
doors if it is warm enough. The table must represent a
circus ground (I've seen those paper circuses downtown,
haven't you?), and the refreshments must carry out the
scheme. So, Bettina, do help us to plan the details!"
Bettina's dinner that night consisted of:
Sliced Ham and Potatoes en Casserole
Baked Creamed Cabbage
Bread Butter
Plum Pudding
Cocoanut Pudding
265
266 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Sliced Ham and Potatoes en Casserole (Four portions)
I lb. slice of ham two- 12 cloves
thirds of an inch thick % t-paprika
4 new potatoes 1 t-chopped parsley
1 C-water 2 T-flour
Have a frying-pan very hot. Add the ham and brown
thoroughly on both sides. Add the water and let boil for
one minute. Remove the ham. Stick the cloves into it,
and place it in the bottom of a casserole. Add the parsley
and paprika to the water in the pan, and pour the liquid
over the meat. Cover and bake in a moderate oven for half
an hour. Roll the potatoes (which have been washed and
peeled) in the flour, and add to the casserole. Baste with
the liquid. Cover and cook three-fourths of an hour. Serve
in the casserole.
Creamed Cabbage Baked (Four portions)
3 C-cabbage, cut or chopped fine 1 t-salt
1 qt. water 1 C-milk
3 T-flour % C-cracker or dry bread crumbs
2 T-butter 1 T-butter
Wash the cabbage and chop into half inch pieces. Cook
in boiling water fifteen minutes. Drain and rinse with cold
water. Make a white sauce by melting the butter, adding
the flour and salt, and then adding the milk. Cook two
minutes, stirring constantly. Add the cabbage, and pour
into a well-buttered open baking dish. Melt the one table-
spoon of butter, add the crumbs and mix well. Spread the
buttered crumbs over the top of the cabbage. Bake fifteen
minutes in a moderate oven. Serve in the dish.
Cocoanut Pudding (Four portions)
1 C-milk }/2 t-lemon extract
% t-salt y2 t-vanilla
3 T-corn starch 3 T-cocoanut
I egg yolk 2 T-sugar
Mix the corn starch and salt in the upper part of the
With Bettinas Best Recipes 267
double boiler. Add the milk slowly, stirring all the time.
Add the sugar. Place the upper in the lower part of the
double boiler and cook, stirring occasionally to prevent
lumping. When very thick, add the egg-yolk, the vanilla
and lemon extracts and *Uo cocoanut. Beat one minute.
Cook again for three minutes. Place in a buttered baking
dish. Beat the egg-white and when very stiff, add the two
tablespoons of sugar. Pile lightly on the top of the pud-
ding and place in a moderate oven for ten minutes to brown
the meringue.
MAY.
Scrub and polish, — sweep and clean,-
FUng your windows wide!
See, the trees are clad in green!
Coax the spring inside!
Homey be shining fair to-day
For the guest whose name is May!
CHAPTER LXXXVI
IN HOUSECLEANING TIME
tif^ OODNESS gracious,
VJ Ruth!" said Bettina.
"Surely it can't be half-past
five already !"
"Yes, it is, Bettina. Exactly
that!" said Ruth, glancing at
her tiny wrist watch. "But
Bob won't be home till six, will
he?"
"No, but I want to have din-
ner ready when he arrives.
You see, as I told you before, I simply shouldn't have gone
to Mary's this afternoon. My curtains are down and my
rugs are up, and my house isn't an attractive place for a
man to come home to, to say the least. And then to come
straight from a party and give Bob a pick-up lunch instead
of a full meal, will be "
"The last straw? What had you planned for lunch?"
"Well, I have some soup all made, ready to reheat. Then
I think I'll have banana salad, tea, and hot baking-powder
biscuits."
"De-licious !" said Ruth, with a Teddy-fied grin. "I be-
lieve I'll invite myself to stay!"
"Good! You can make the salad while I'm mixing the
biscuits. I also have some chocolate cookies, and I'll open
a jar of canned peaches "
"And I'll be so bright and scintillating that old Bobbie
won't even miss the curtains and the rugs !"
That night Bettina served:
269
270 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Bettina Soup Oyster Crackers
Banana Salad
Hot Biscuits
Canned Peaches Chocolate Cookies
Tea
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Bettina Soup (Three portions)
3 C-meat stock (left over) i T-sliced onion
y2 C-cooked rice y2 t-salt
y2 C-tomato pulp ^ t-paprika
3 celery leaves
Add the rice, tomato pulp, onion, salt, paprika and celery
leaves to the meat stock. Cook for twenty minutes over a
slow fire. Strain and serve in hot soup dishes or bouillon
cups.
Banana Salad (Three portions)
2 bananas I T-lemon juice
y2 C-shelled peanuts, y2 t-salt
broken in halves Y\ t-paprika
x/2 C-celery, cut small Vz C-salad dressing
3 lettuce leaves
Cut the bananas in one-fourth inch cubes. Add the lemon
juice, mixing thoroughly. Add the peanuts, celery, salt and
paprika. Add the salad dressing, mixing lightly with a
silver fork. Pile on the lettuce leaves which have been
washed and arranged on a serving dish. Serve immediately.
Baking Powder Biscuits (Eight biscuits)
\y2 C-flour yA t-salt
3 t-baking powder il/2 T-lard
y2 C-milk
Mix and sift well the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut
in the lard with a knife until the consistency of cornmeal.
Add the milk slowly, stirring with a knife until the dough
is soft enough to be handled without sticking to the fingers.
Place on a floured board, pat into shape, with the hands, to
a thickness of two-thirds of an inch. Cut with a biscuit
cutter. Place the biscuits side by side in a tin pan. Bake
in a moderate oven fifteen minutes. Serve on a folded
napkin.
CHAPTER LXXXVII
WITH HOUSECLEANING OVER
f f T> ROILED steak and Frei ch fried potatoes ! Whew!"
-D said Bob, strolling into Bettina's shining kitchen.
"Why so festive?"
"Because I've just finished hcuse-cleaning, Bob, and I
want to celebrate. Doesn't everything look splendid?"
"Well, it looked good to me before, but now that I think
of it, I believe there is an extra shine on things. What
makes that nickel there look so bright and silvery?"
"I cleaned it with a damp cloth dipped in powdered borax.
That always makes nickel bright and clean."
"I might have done that for you, Betty. Why didn't you
suggest it to me?"
"Oh, this house is so small and dear that I enjoyed every
minute of my house-cleaning. And I didn't want to bother
you with it at all."
"Well, I'll help now with dinner. What can I do?"
"Will you cut the bread, dear? There's the steel bread
knife; doesn't it look bright and shiny, too? I cleaned all
my steel knives by dipping them into the earth in a flower
pot I keep filled for that purpose. Well, I think dinner is
ready now, Bob."
For dinner they had :
Broiled Steak French Fried Potatoes
Stuffed Onions
Bread Currant Jelly
Orange Tapioca Whipped Cream
Coffee
271
272 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Stuffed Onions (Two portions)
2 large Spanish onions y2 t-salt
3 T-soft bread crumbs 2 t-melted butter
i t-egg y2 t-celery salt
Yz t-chopped parsley XA C-milk
Cook the whole onions in boiling water until tender, but
not broken. When the fork pierces them easily, drain off
the water and rinse in cold water. This makes them firm
for stuffing.
Remove the centers carefully. Add the removed portion,
chopped fine, to the crumbs, eggt parsley, salt, butter and
celery salt. Mix thoroughly. Fill the holes with the mix-
ture. Place the onions in a small pan. Sprinkle the salt
over the onion and pour over it the milk. Bake in a mod-
erate oven for twenty minutes.
Orange Tapioca (Two portions)
4 T-orange juice 2/3 C-boiling water
2 t-lemon juice 2 T-powdered tapioca
5 T-sugar % t-salt
1 orange
Stir the tapioca into the orange and lemon juice. Add
the sugar and salt. Let it stand for three minutes while
boiling the water. Add the water. Place directly over the
fire. Stir constantly and cook till thick (about three min-
utes). Peei the orange and break apart in sections. Line
a glass sc. ving dish with it and pour the tapioca over the sec-
tions, berve cold with whipped cream.
Whipped Cream
1/3 C-thick cream y2 t-lemon extract
2 T-sugar y2 t-vanilla extract
Place the cream in a round-bottomed, chilled bowl. Beat
until thick and fluffy. Add the sugar, lemon and vanilla.
Mix well. Pile lightly on the orange tapioca and serve
very cold.
CHAPTER LXXXVIII
SPRING MARKETING
** T 'VE been to the market, Bettina," said Charlotte, "and
•■■ I thought I'd stop here just a moment to rest."
"Come in," said Bettina, "and set that heavy basket down.
Why didn't you leave it for Frank to bring?"
"Because I needed the things for dinner."
"What did you get?"
"Oh, the same old fresh vegetables," said Charlotte wear-
ily. "A month ago they seemed so wonderful — strawber-
ries, asparagus, new potatoes and all — but there are no new
ways to cook them ! One day I cream the asparagus and
the next day I serve it on toast."
"Do you ever make asparagus salad?" asked Bettina.
"We are very fond of it. Cold cooked asparagus is good
with any kind of salad dressing, but we like best a very
simple kind that I often make — oil and lemon juice and
cheese."
"Cheese?" echoed Charlotte in surprise.
"Yes, cottage cheese and Roquefort cheese are equally
good. And, Charlotte, if you want some delicious straw-
berry desserts "
"Oh, I do ! We're so tired of shortcake and plain straw-
berries !"
"I know several good strawberry dishes. Come, let me
show you one that I made today 1"
Bettina's dinner consisted of:
273
274 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
Veal Steak New Potatoes in Cream
Bread Butter
Asparagus Salad Salad Dressing
Strawberry Tapioca
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Asparagus Salad (Three portions)
18 stalks of asparagus 3 C-water
1/2 t-salt 2 pieces of lettuce
Wash the asparagus and cut it in six-inch pieces. Cook
for ten minutes in boiling salted water (longer if necessary).
Rinse with cold water, handling carefully. Arrange six
stalks on each piece of lettuce. Serve with salad dressing.
Asparagus Salad Dressing (Three portions)
4 T-olive oil % t-salt
2 T-lemon juice J4 t-paprika
I T-cottage cheese
Beat the oil, and add the lemon juice slowly. Add the
salt and paprika. Beat one minute. Add the cheese. Serve
very cold, poured over the asparagus salad.
Strawberry Tapioca
3 T-granulated tapioca % t-salt
4 T-sugar y2 t-vanilla
l% C-hot water 1 C-strawberries
T/i C-sugar
Wash and hull the strawberries, and cut in halves with a
spoon. Add the sugar, mix well, and set in a cold TDiace.
Mix the tapioca, the sugar and the salt. Add the ociling
water slowly. Cook ten minutes in the upper part of the
double boiler. Add the vanilla. When cold, add the straw-
berries. Serve very cold with plain or whipped cream.
CHAPTER LXXXIX
PLANS FOR THE WEDDING
ff/^H, Bob!" cried Bettina, "don't you hope it won't
yJ rain?"
"Rain? When? Tonight?" asked Bob, absent-mindedly,
for he was busily eating the first cherry cobbler of the
season, and enjoying it, too.
"No, stupid! I'm thinking about the wedding — Ruth's
wedding."
"And Fred's wedding, too," added Bob. "You talk as if
Ruth were the only one who is vitally interested."
"Fred's wedding, then. For, you see, the ceremony is to
be in that darling summer house if it doesn't rain. If it
does it will have to be in the solarium. The bridesmaids
and matrons (if it is an outdoor wedding) are to carry the
prettiest green silk parasols that you ever saw. They will
be Ruth's gifts to us. Over our arms we'll carry plain soft
straw hats filled with pink peonies, and lots of trailing
greenery. Won't that be lovely? For you know we are
all to wear short white dresses and white shoes."
"And what am I to do?"
"You're to be an usher and help carry the green ropes
that form the aisle."
"Ropes?"
"Yes, plain ropes covered with greenery. Will you have
some more cherry cobbler, Bob ?"
That night for dinner Bettina served:
Pork Tenderloin Creamed New Potatoes
Cauliflower with Butter Sauce
Vegetable Salad French Dressing
Cherry Cobbler Cream
Coffee
275
276 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Vegetable Salad (Four portions)
2 tomatoes l/2 t-celery salt
12 slices of cucumber i t-salt
4 T-cottage cheese x/\ t-paprika
8 pieces of lettuce
Arrange two pieces of lettuce on each salad plate. Cut
the tomatoes in half and arrange on the lettuce. Place
three slices of cucumber on each piece of tomato. Add a
tablespoon of cheese to each portion. Sprinkle with celery
salt, salt and paprika. Serve at once with French dressing.
Bettina's French Dressing (Four portions)
2 T-lemon juice I t-salt
5 T-olive oil % t-paprika
I t-chopped parsley-
Mix the lemon juice, salt, paprika and parsley. Add the
oil slowly, beating vigorously with a Dover egg-beater or a
fork. Beat until the mixture becomes a little thick. Pour
over the salad.
Cherry Cobbler (Four portions)
2 C-cherries, stemmed i C-flour
and pitted I t-baking powder
2/3 C-sugar Ya, t-salt
2 t-flour 1 T-sugar
1 T-water 2 T-butter
Yz t-salt 6 T-milk
Mix the cherries, sugar, flour and salt. Allow to stand
five minutes. Add the water. Pour the mixture into a
deep glass or china baking dish. Mix and sift the flour,
baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut in the butter with a
knife. Add the milk, mixing until a soft dough is formed.
Shape it with the hands to fit over the cherries. Make
three slits in the dough to permit the steam to escape.
Place in a moderate oven and bake for thirty minutes.
Serve in the baking dish. Plain cream or whipped cream
should be served with the cobbler.
CHAPTER XC
ENTERTAINING THE WEDDING GUESTS
**TF you girls only would, my dear," Ruth's mother had
* responded to Bettina's suggestion that she and Alice
entertain Ruth's house guests the entire day before the wed-
ding, "you have no idea what a load would be taken off my
mind!"
"And Alice and I would so enjoy helping you," Bettina had
replied. "And remember, we mean the whole day, breakfast
and all!"
Luckily, the day before the wedding dawned warm and clear.
At eight o'clock Harry and Bob drove them all in automobiles
to a lovely country spot in which the girls served an outdoor
breakfast. The morning was spent in motoring and luncheon
was eaten at a charming downtown tea-room. Then they were
whisked off to Bettina's little home for an informal afternoon,
and Harry and Bob, feeling that they had indeed been model
husbands, departed for their respective offices.
"The girl from Kentucky has volunteered to sing," whis-
pered Alice to Ruth. "She's a dear. Do you suppose we can
keep Aunt Jenny from talking for half an hour?"
That afternoon the following refreshments were served on
trays:
Fruit Salad Bettina Sandwiches
Orange Sherbet
Bettina Cake, White Mountain Cream Icing
Coffee
Nuts Candy
277
278 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Fruit Salad (Twelve portions)
3 C-diced pineapple ]/2 C-marshmallows, cut fine
I C-nut meats, cut in small ]/2 C-red cherries, cut fine
pieces 1/3 C-figs, cut fine
y2 C-oranges, cut in small 1 C-salad dressing
pieces x/2 C-whipped cream
12 pieces lettuce
Mix the pineapple, nut meats, oranges, marshmallows, cher-
ries and figs. Mix the whipped cream and the salad dressing.
Pour this over the fruit. Serve on lettuce leaves which have
been washed and placed on serving plates. Serve immediately.
Bettina Sandwiches (Twelve portions)
z/t C-creamed cheese y2 C-pimento olives, chopped fine
3 T-pickles, chopped fine 2 T-salad dressing
l/A t-salt
Mix the cheese, pickles, olives and salt. Add the salad dress-
ing. Spread this mixture between two thin pieces of buttered
bread. Press firmly together and cut into fancy shapes.
Bettin? Cake (Twelve squares)
y C-butter 1 t-baking powder
y2 C-sugar y C-strained orange juice
4 egg-yolks J/2 t-orange extract
7/z C-flour l/2 t-lemon extract
Cream the butter, add the sugar and mix well. Add the
egg-yolks which have been well beaten. Mix and sift the flour,
baking powder and salt, and add these, with the orange juice
and the orange and lemon extracts to the first mixture. Beat
vigorously for two minutes. Fill a twelve-inch square pan
which has been prepared with waxed paper, with the mixture.
Bake thirty minutes in a moderate oven. When cool, cover
with the icing and cut into twelve pieces.
CHAPTER XCI
THE BRIDESMAIDS' DINNER
RUTH'S wedding colors were to be pink and green, and
pink and green were, therefore, the colors which decor-
ated the charming dinner table laid for the wedding party and
close relatives the night before the wedding. A bud vase hold-
ing a half-opened pink rose bud stood before every two places.
A large, low dish in the center of the table held pink roses,
while at either end was another low arrangement of the same
flowers.
Tiny paper slipper nut cups at each place held the pecans,
and at the places laid for the best man and the ushers, silver
pencils, Fred's gifts to the groomsmen, were found.
"They are cunning, of course," chattered Bernadette, Ruth's
cousin and maid-of -honor, "but you men just wait till you see
the green parasols that we bridesmaids are to carry ! Ruth is
giving them to us, you know !"
The dinner menu was as follows :
Watermelon Balls
Celery Bouillon Bread Sticks
Veal Birds
Creamed New Potatoes Buttered New Beets
Rolls Butter Balls
Mint Frappe
Blackstone Salad French Dressing
Thin Bread and Butter Sandwiches
Brick Ice Cream White Cake
Coffee
Salted Pecans
271
280 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Blackstone Salad (Eighteen portions)
36 pieces of head lettuce H t-paprika
9 grapefruit y2 t-salt
9 T-Neufchatel cheese 2 T-cream
9 T-cottage cheese 1 T-salad dressing
Arrange two pieces of lettuce on each salad plate. Care-
fully peel the grapefruit and remove all the tough fibres and
the white skin. Cut the grapefruit into one-inch pieces. Ar-
range the pieces in a circle upon the lettuce leaves. In the
center of the circle, place the cheese mixture. Pour the salad
dressing over the lettuce, cheese and grapefruit.
Cheese Mixture
Mix the Neufchatel and cottage cheese, the salt, paprika,
cream and salad dressing. Stir until very creamy. Spread
on a piece of waxed paper to the thickness of one inch. Place
in the refrigerator, on the ice if possible. When cold and hard,
cut in pieces three-fourths of an inch square. Place a cube in
the center of the grapefruit circle on each side plate.
French Dressing
8 T-lemon juice 1/2 t-paprika
2 t-salt 1 C-olive oil
Mix and beat thoroughly the lemon juice, salt and paprika.
Add the oil very slowly. Beat for three minutes. Add one
tablespoon to each portion of the salad. Serve at once.
CHAPTER XCII
A MORNING WEDDING IN JUNE
AFTER the solemn and beautiful ceremony had taken
place in the rose-embowered summer house, there was
the usual hush for a moment, and then Ruth and Fred were
engulfed in a sudden rush of chattering friends, eager to offer
congratulations. Bettina and Bob were swept off with the oth-
ers to the house, where the wedding breakfast was waiting to
be served.
"The morning is after all the happiest time for a wedding,"
whispered Ellen to Bettina, as they found their places at the
bride's table. "Everything seems so fresh and new and green
and hopeful ! Isn't the table lovely, Bettina ?"
And indeed it was. Rose-decorated again, with the grace-
ful flowers in baskets, and the white bride's cake in the center
of the table, Bettina felt that it made the proper setting for the
flushed and smiling little bride.
"And the wedding cake is to be passed in darling little bas-
kets," continued Ellen. "Little baskets with handles — and the
cake in tiny packages tied with white ribbon ! Pink and green
candy all around them, too !"
The wedding breakfast consisted of:
Watermelon Balls in Halves of Cantaloupe
Chicken Croquettes Creamed Potatoes
Mushroom Sauce
New Peas Butter Sauce
Parker House Rolls Loganberry Jam
Fruit Salad Wafers, Bettina
Brick Ice Cream White Cake
Coffee
Nuts Candy
281
282 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Mushroom Sauce (Thirty portions)
i C-chicken fat 2 t-salt
% C-water Yt t-paprika
I J4 C-flour 7 C-milk
Mix the fat and flour carefully, add the water, salt and
paprika. Cook one minute, stirring constantly, add one-half of
the milk and cook until the mixture gets very thick. Beat one
minute, add the rest of the milk and cook again, still stirring
continuously. When the sauce is very thick and creamy, add
the mushrooms. Stir over a hot fire for one minute. This
allows the mushrooms to get hot. Serve one tablespoonful of
the mixture around each croquette. The sauce may be re-
heated by adding two tablespoons of milk, and placing over a
hot fire.
Fruit Salad (Thirty portions)
30 slices of pineapple 120 pecan meats
120 white cherries 30 T-salad dressing
30 red maraschino cherries 30 pieces of head lettuce
2 t-salt
Arrange the pieces of lettuce on the salad plates. Sprinkle
with salt, arrange on each portion a slice of pineapple, four
white cherries, four pecan nuts and one maraschino cherry.
Place one tablespoon of salad dressing on each slice of pine-
apple, then arrange the fruits and nuts in any desired design.
Serve immediately.
Wafers Bettina (Thirty portions)
30 double wafers 3 T-chopped nut meats
Y lb. cream cheese (white) 3 T-butter
Ya t-salt
Mix the cheese, nuts, butter and salt thoroughly. Spread
evenly over the double wafers. Bake in a moderate oven until
a delicate brown on the top.
CHAPTER XCIII
THE FIRST YEAR ENDS
i( A ND a whole year has gone since then/' said Bob, as his
A eyes met Bettina's across the little table set for two.
"That's the queer part of it," Bettina replied. "That year
seems unbelievably short in some ways and unbelievably long
in others, and stranger yet, I don't feel that it is really gone.
I feel as if we had it, captured, held forever, with all of its
fun and all of its little sad times. We own it, even more than
we own a collection of snapshots in a camera book — because
that year is a part of us now."
"And the little hard places only make the bright spots all
the brighter by contrast. Do you know, Bettina, that I've
found you wiser than I ever imagined a young wife could
be?"
"Bob," — and Bettina laughed and blushed at the same time.
"Don't interrupt. This is our anniversary and I'm making
a speech. You are wise because from the first you've realized
that we get out of life just what we put into it. You've faced
things. You've realized that marriage isn't a hit-or-miss propo-
sition. It's a business "
"A glorified business, Bobby. Dealing in materials that can't
all be felt and seen and tasted, but that are, nevertheless, just
as real as others. More truly real, I sometimes think. I
know that the more love we give the more we receive, but we
can't forget that we were given intelligence, too. So we mustn't
turn the rose-colored lights of romance too beautifully low
283
284 A Thousand Ways To Please a Husband
to let us see the wheels go round. And after all, romance is
really in everything that we do lovingly, and intelligently. I
find it in planning and cooking the best and most economical
meals that I can, and in getting the mending done on time, and
in keeping the house clean and beautiful. And — in having you
appreciate things."
"If you knew how I do appreciate them !" said Bob. "Let's
make our second year even happier than the first. If that is
possible !"
For that anniversary dinner Bettina served:
Broiled Steak New Potatoes in Cream
Hot Biscuits Butter
Currant Jelly
Tomato Salad
Charlotte Russe
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Currant Jelly (Five glasses)
2 qts. of currants I C-water
Sugar
Pick over the currants, leaving the berries on the stems-
Wash and drain. Place in an enamel preserving kettle and
add one cup of water. Cook slowly until the currants are
white. Strain through a jelly bag. Boil the juice five minutes
in a shallow pan. It is better to boil small quantities at a time,
as this makes the jelly much clearer. When the juice has all
been boiled, measure, and add an equal amount of heated
sugar. Boil three minutes, or until it jells when tried on a
cold saucer. Pour into sterilized glasses. Allow to stand in
the sun twenty- four hours. Cover with boiling paraffin and
put away in a cool, dark place. This recipe makes about ftvz
glasses or two and a half pints.
Tomato Salad (Two portions)
4 slices tomato, J/2 inch thick % t-celery salt
3 T-chopped green pepper 2 T-olive oil
y2 t-salt 2 T-lemon juice
% t-paprika 2 pieces lettuce
With Bettinas Best Recipes 285
Mix the salt, paprika, celery salt, olive oil and lemon juice.
Beat one minute. Add the tomatoes and green pepper. Place
in the ice box for half an hour. Arrange the lettuce leaves
on salad plates. Place two slices of tomato on each portion.
Pour the oil mixture over the tomatoes.
Charlotte Russe (Two portions)
2 t-granulated gelatin I C-whipped cream
2 T-cold water y2 t-vanilla
% C-hot milk 4 thin pieces sponge cake
% C-sugar
Place the sponge cakes around the edges of a moistened
mould. Soak the gelatin in cold water five minutes. Add the
hot milk. Stir until it dissolves. Add the sugar and vanilla.
Allow the gelatin mixture to cool. When it begins to thicken,
fold in the cream. Beat until the mixture holds its shape.
Pour into the mould. Allow to remain two hours in a cold
place.
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